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PHILOSOPHIC GRAMMAR 



ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 

IN CONKECTION WITH THE 

LAWS OF MATTER AND OF THOUGHT: 

AND 

CONFORMED TO THE BEST MODERN USAGE *. 

WITH 

DEFINITIONS AND PRACTICAL EXEMPLIFICATIONS OF THE WORDS 
WHICH, NOT BEING BEFORE EXPLAINED, HAVE CAUSED MUCH 
OF THE PERPLEXITY IN ATTEMPTED EXPOSITIONS OF SPEECH 

DESIGNED POR PRIYATE STUDENTS, POREIGNERS, AND THE 
HIGHER CLASSES IN SCHOOLS. 



By WILLIAM S. CARDELL. 



^" These rules of old, discoveved, not devised, 
Are nature still, but nature methodized." 




PHILADELPHL^; 

PUBLISHED BY URIAH HUNT, 147 MARKET STREEi\ 
Mifflin and Parry, Printers, 

1827, 






Eastern District of Pennsijlvama, ss. 

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the sixth clay of November, in the fifty-second 
year of the Independence of tlie United States of America, Uriah Hunt, of the said 
district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he 
claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit : 

" Philosophic Grammar of the English Language, in Connection with the Laws 
of Matter and of Thought ; and conformed to the best Modern Usage : with 
Definitions and Practical Exemplifications of the Words, which, not being before 
Explained, have caused much of the perplexity in attempted Expositions of 
Speech : designed for Private Students, Foreigners, and the higher Classes in 
Schools. By William S. Cardell. 

" ' These rules of old, discovered, not de^'ised. 
Are nature still, but nature methodized.' " 

In -conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for 
the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies^ of Maps, Charts, and Books 
to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned;" 
and also to an Act entitled, " An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled, an Act 
for the Encouragement of Learning, by secui'ing the copies of Maps, Charts, and 
Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein 
mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, 
and etching historical and other prints. 

D. CALDWELL, 
Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania- 



INTRODUCTION. 



Reason is the distinguishing excellence of man, and 
language the means by which its operations are perform- 
ed. How important must be the instrument on which 
so many millions depend, in all the transactions, and 
all the social enjoyments of life. 

The design, in what is here advanced, is to explain 
those simple principles by which the mind is guided in 
the use of language, with such rules of practice as are 
important to the English scholar. 

The learning, talents, and means of research, possessed 
by many who have spent the labor of their lives in the 
same field, are not to be depreciated nor denied. It 
would ill become the author of this treatise to pretend 
to equal competition with such writers ; or, in contem- 
plating their important and difficult undertaking, to 
withhold the tribute justly due to their characters. 

On the other hand, no disguise will be assumed 
The system here in its outline proposed, will be found 
essentially to differ from any theory of language hither- 
to received. Under these circumstances, some excuse 
may seem indispensable, for offering such a work. 



JV - INTRODUCTION. 

Without pretension to high attainments, it has been 
the authors fortune to become slightly acquainted 
with some branches of knowledge, the principles of 
which, he considered valuable^ in their application to 
the structure of speech. The reasons which led him to 
change his opinions, and yield the prejudices of instruc- 
tion and habit, may possibly have some effect on the 
minds of others. 

The contradictory, deficient and inapplicable direc« 
lions, observable in the most popular works on gram- 
mar, are different from any thing to which we are ac- 
customed, at the present day, in other scientific pur- 
suits. These were very perplexing, in practice, to the 
author, as they doubtless are to others who claim the 
right of thinking for themselves, and of rejecting what 
they find untrue. The remarkable difference of writers 
from each other, even in the same language, and still 
more, the evident variance from philosophic truth, 
showed that there must be some thing very defective 
in the manner of conducting the inquiry. Every ex- 
tension of research to determine where the error lay 
only accumulated the mass of inconsistency, under the 
name of learning. Uniform experience proved that 
what is directly opposed to fact, and good sense, in 
plain English, can not be made true, by the best quota- 
tions from Latin and Greek. Under all these perplexi- 
ties, it appeared too daring to suppose that the persons 
to whom the civilized world looked up for instruction 



INTRODTTCTION. V 

in language, while differing from each other in such 
numerous particulars, were all wrong alike, in the main 
points; and that the causes of their endless disputes 
were the improper assumptions on which their whol^ 
train of reasoning w%s founded. The mass of evidence, 
however, which tended to this belief, w^as constantly 
increasing. 

After the many years spent by Mr. Locke, in writing 
his " Essay on the Human Understanding," the limit- 
ed and mistaken views of that truly great man, respect- 
ing the connection of the intellect with language as the 
instrument it must necessarily employ, could leave no 
doubt that the exposition, on one side or the other, was 
wrong. Even J. Home Tooke, the prodigy of genius 
and learning, in his favorite " Diversions," so lumin- 
ous, so interesting, beyong all others, in etymology, as 
soon as he attempts the philosophic structure of speech, 
is entangled in the grammatical snare. Those eminent 
scholars and fine writers, Dugald Stewart and Adam 
Smith, barely venture to hint at an important work 
which it would be a vast public btrnefit to have per- 
formed; but they appear to shrink from an undertake- 
ing for which it can rarely happen that any other per- 
son can be so well qualified as themselves. These 
facts, and their inferences, which the writer of this per- 
formance could not fail to observe, became the subject 
of deliberate thought. One degree of conviction led 
to an other, and to the notice of new testimony which 

1# 



Yl INTRODUCTION. 

was constantly presented. The most important rules 
laid down as principles of speech, are evidently opposed 
to the plain understandings of men in their daily prac- 
tice. In the thousands of verbs represented as express- 
ing " neither action nor passion," e?en children habitu- 
ally make the proper application of them in the im- 
perative mood ; not only independent of grammar 
rules, but in direct opposition to their erroneous teach- 
ing. 

Here a new query arises. How is it possible that so 
many illustrious scholars, in places of the highest trusty 
and possessed of ample means, should have been 
enthralled by mischievous impositions, and the fallacy 
of such doctrines remain for ages undetected ? The 
humbling fact, implied in the question, has, in the 
course of human affairs, more parallels, and more 
answers than one. 

The false principles, by v/hich the writers on language 
have misled the rest of the world, are not dissimilar to 
those of the Ptolemian astronomy. That system was 
matured under a succession of kings, most liberal 
patrons of learning. A confederacy of talent, support- 
ed by the royal treasury of Egypt, long employed all 
the means which science could afford, to ascertain the 
ourses of the spheres. For many centuries, all the 
prescriptive tribunals of Europe were united, to sup- 
port this inconsistent theory, and ready to pour down 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

the wrath of their authority, on the unsanctioned heretic 
who should dare to question its truth. 

This delusion has passed away ; and the high fed 
astrology which it nurtured, is reduced to a skeleton^ 
on the leaf of an almanac. Inculcations as delusive 
and* pernicious, in other things, still remain, in full 
traditional force. 

When, at this period, which is sometimes called en- 
lightened, a grammarian lays his penknife on the table, 
and asks the question, with an air of triumph, *' Does 
that knife perform any action^ in lying stilly'* it is the 
same philosophy which pertinaciously demanded, a few 
years ago, whether this mighty world could fly a thou- 
sand miles in a minute, and no one feel the motion ; 
and if it ever turned upside down, why the water did 
not spill from the ponds, and the people fall headlong 
to the bottomless pit? Such querists will find their 
own answers, in learning the meaning of words, and the 
laws of nature ; and will, more and more, admire that 
wisdom which gave, every where, the true scientific 
adaptation to the language of men, notwithstanding their 
own ignorance and perversity of opinion. 

A valuable discovery may occasionally fall to the 
lot of the humblest votary of science, even where those 
of prouder name have failed. There is a loftiness in 
official station, or in long admitted pre-eminence, which 
sometimes leads men to overlook the simplicity of 



Viii INTRODirCTION. 

truth ; and the pedestrian, lingering in his twilight 
course, may stumble on the treasure which the digni- 
tary in his coach rides over without deigning to regard. 

The science of speech seems to have been obscured 
by a system of false reasoning from which most other 
branches of knowledge have in succession been res- 
cued. The department of instruction, under the 
abused name of grammar, has become almost peculiar 
in its degradation at the present day j for in hardly any 
thing else, could such technical mystery be unblushing- 
ly offered for explanation, or contradictory opinions for 
demonstrative proof. It appears to be time also that, 
in classic literature, the veneration for antiquity should 
be limited to its appropriate subjects. The Grecians, 
whatever might have been their genius in works of 
taste, made but little progress in researches of exact 
science. It seems to have been common, in all ages, 
for linguists to become somewhat familiar with set 
lessons, before hahits of close investigation are acquir- 
ed. Having, in some degree, learned the forms of 
words, and grown tired of the task, these persons are 
afterwards too busy or too indolent to resume the sub- 
ject, or too limited and prejudiced in their views, to 
comprehend its hearings and importance. 

From causes like these the progress of learning, in 
this department, perhaps, more than in any other, has 
been retarded by artificial theories j for it is the mis- 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

fortune of such theories, that when once adopted, they 
are very difficult to change ; because they contain with- 
in themselves no just principles of investigation. The 
position being assumed that they must be right, they 
are received, with trusting submission, as a task for the 
memory, and imposed on each age in succession, mere- 
ly because they are not understood. 

Gross absurdities are the necessary consequence of 
attempting to explain either ideas or words, indepen- 
dent of things. To the eye of sound reason, what can 
appear farther removed from matter of fact, or useful 
knowledge, than the old college logic which professed 
to guide the mind, by systematic rules of art, in the 
way of science and truth ? 

The neuter verb grammar, with its multiplied and 
unfitting appendages, as still forced on learners, is made 
up of the same bewildering technicalities, the unreason- 
ing pedantry of scholastic forms, without meaning or 
application : for it will be seen by those who may 
examine the subject, that, with the endless variety in 
the details of exposition, these sets of arbitrary rules 
are, in reference to general plan, hardly more than 
transcripts from each other, through a period ©f eight 
hundred years. 

It is fortunate for mankind that the proper use of 
language is substantially preserved, independent of such 
rules, and in spite of their false teaching. 



X INTRODUCTION. 

Human nature derives some credit, also, from the 
fact, that, notwithstanding the extent of implicit error 
on this subject, many individuals are found, who were 
not " born under the influence of the right planet y'* and 
who have, not too little, but too much, talent to under- 
stand the distinctive character of the nine parts of 
speech. Such persons will not depend on the ^^ favor 
of their starSy^ nor the effect of unoperative actions^ but 
on a more efficient agency, to advance their own know- . 
ledge in scientific truth. 

As a specimen of the theories which have puzzled 
the world to so little purpose, it is common for 
European critics to praise the recompilers of grammar, 
for " skill in abstract knowledge." This is the most 
degrading commendation which a writer on language 
could well receive ; but, unfortunately for the cause of 
learning, the eulogy, as intended and understood, is 
very appropriate. 

These compilations of opinions, as now generally 
taught under the name of grammar, received their main 
cast during the dark ages, when the colleges were 
chiefly employed in vague metaphysical disputes ; 
when the pretended oracles of science were striving by 
whimsical rules of alchemy to transmute baser metals 
into gold ; and to produce the medicine by virtue of 
which each sage should determine for himself, how 
many thousand years he would condescend to remain 
an the dirty platfortn called earth. 



INTRODUCTION. Xi 

The fountains of doctrinal authority were running 
together, in a strong current, before any thing like a 
rational philosophy could oppose its course. Positions, 
at first held by assumption, are now defended as time 
admitted rights ; and so strongly immured is this litera- 
ry Babylon, that the unscreened assailant, before the 
frowning towers, can only hope, in imitation of a loftier 
model, to turn, in part, the stream aside, and march 
under the walls. 

If the system of teaching in language hitherto pur- 
sued is false in its essential principles, it is of great im- 
portance, in a national point of view, that it should be 
set aside. In such an attempt, many opposers must, 
of course, be expected, both from the prejudice of in- 
culcation, and from the still stronger motive of direct 
self-interest, as among the devotees and shrine makers, 
at the Ephesian temple, those who might have relin- 
quished the worship of the goddess, rose to secure 
their " craft" from the danger they feared. On the 
other hand, a portion will certainly be found, who are 
disposed to act in the spirit of free investigation ; and 
who will consider it a more important question whether 
proffered opinions are true or false, than whether they 
are new or old. 

Limited, therefore, as the circulation of this volume 
may be, it will doubtless meet with two sorts of readers. 
Some will examine for themselves, whether its state- 



Xli INTRODtJCTION. 

ments and deductions are just. They will either detect 
their fallacy, or will candidly adopt them, if they find 
them correct. Others will only inquire whether the 
ideas advanced agree with what they have been 
told before, or have read in supposed orthodox books. 
These persons are not expected to reason ; but to 
denounce the work, as a matter of course, when they 
suspect it to vary from the dogmas of those by whom 
they are led. 

If the principles here faintly sketched should be 
found incontrovertible, the last resort of opposition 
will be, to say that they are unimportant ; and that the 
former manner of teaching will answer as well, or even 
be more easy for learners to comprehend. Why, in 
language more than in any thing else, should error be 
plainer than truth? or how, on any subject, can a 
volume of nonentities and perversions form a body of 
useful instruction ? Such inconsistencies as would, at 
once, be rejected in every other department of tuition, 
it is hoped will not be retained in language, which is the 
instrument of all. 

Whatever is opposed to philosophic correctness, will 
prove as mischievous and inapplicable in practice, as it 
is incongruous in theory. Who, in teaching arithmetic, 
would say " nine times nine make a hundred ;" and 
then offer, as a reason for this mis-statement, that a 
hundred is a round number, and easier to remember 



mTROmTCTION. Xiil 

than the real product ? It is still worse to tell the 
scholar that, whenever the " neuter auxiliary to be'''* 
stands in any way connected with a past participle, the 
two words together arc to be called one ^''passive 
verb ;" as, " The Almighty is clothed or girded with 
majesty," and " is exalted^'* above the influence, or 
adequate conception of all created beings. This re- 
mark will equally apply to the chief part of what is 
given for explanation, on " Articles^ Pronouns^ Adjec- 
tives^ the d'lfferent sorts of Verbs^ Moods^ Tenses^ Par- 
ticiples ^ Adverbs^ Conjunctions ^ and Syntax P 

In an epitome for learners, extensive proofs and 
illustrations are not to be expected. To those who 
wish for something farther respecting the philosophy 
on which this system depends, with corroborating au- 
thorities from foreign tongues, the writer takes the 
liberty of mentioning his " Essay on Language^ as con- 
nected zvith the Faculties of the Mind^ and as applied to 
Things in Nature and Art^'^^ 



SYNOPSIS, 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE PRINCIPLES CONNECTED 
WITH THIS WORK. 

Addressed to Enlightened Teachers and Literary Persons^ -who are 
inclined to examine Language on Reasoning Principles. 



The attempt here made to explain the philosophy 
and the proper use of grammar, forms part of a sys- 
tem comprehending an outline of rhetoric, logic, and 
the science of the mind, in their immediate con- 
nection with the structure of speech. As an exposi- 
tion of language, it may be considered a striking pe- 
culiarity of this system, that its rules are not primarily 
sought in the mere forms of words. From a labyrinth 
without a clew, in which the most enlightened scholars 
of Europe have mazed themselves and misguided oth- 
ers, the author ventures to turn aside. Sensibly as he 
may feel the want of adequate talents and means, this 
undertaking is not the result of hasty conjecture; but of 
deliberate conviction that the whole organic formation 
of speech may be exhibited on principles of physical 
and mental science, and elucidated by the clearest in- 
ductive evidence, from obvious facts, and the general 
understanding of mankind. 

It will readily be seen, by persons competent to 
judge, that such a work, if practicable, must lay the 
foundation of vast improvement in most other branches 
of human knowledge. It brings to the aid of meta- 



16 SYNOPSIS. 

physical disquisitions a vast body of facts, drawn from 
natural science; and, to the philosophic investigator in 
the material world, on the other hand, written language 
supplies the common sense testimony of all people by 
whom it is employed. Here is the center where na- 
ture and art, literature and science, unite; where, be- 
yond all other means, we may examine, not only what 
nations, through ages, have done, but what they knewj 
how they obtained and expressed that knowledge; andj 
higher than all, in what manner they thought. 

To obviate, at the outset, the seeming extravagance 
uf such an attempt, it may be proper to observe that 
rhetoric is but an ej^tension of grammar to elegance 
and taste, adding very little which is really distinctive^ 
and nothing which is not founded on the same elemen- 
tary laws. The complex systems of logic and mental 
science treat in common, of one set of topics, and by 
similar means of investigation, so that these two names 
are, in reality, but different appellations for the same 
thing. It is difficult to conceive wherein the difference 
between them is supposed to consist, or on what prin- 
ciple a division is to be made. The vagueness and 
complexity of these systems, as they at present exist, 
afford strong presumptive evidence that they are wide 
departures from those strikingly harmonious laws which 
pervade the physical and intellectual world, so far as 
these are known. 

It is the excellence of speech, as the means of per- 
sonal and national intercourse, that, instead of de- 
pending chiefly on mistaken learning, for the simple 
grandeur of its plan, the same Divine Wisdom which 
gave the facaltv of its utterance, has guarded it from 



SYNOPSIS. IT 

destructive perversion, by those invariable principles of 
matter and mind, which determine the elements and 
the boundaries of thought, and the guiding cast of 
every known tongue. 

All language, then, is to be considered under two 
points of view : 

First; as regulated, in its general structure, by esta« 
blished laws. 

Second; as depending, in its minor adjustments, on 
the conventional regulations of men. 

Under the first and most important of these conside- 
rations, the principles of language are common to the 
human family, in every age. They cannot be the sub- 
ject, either of exception, or of contradiction ; for, in all 
science so founded in the nature of things, one truth 
never controverts an other truth ; and, not only each 
department is consistent with itself, but all the parts 
agree with each other. Neither are the principles of 
language, in this point of view, liable to doubt, or dif- 
ference of opinion ; for, when once properly explained, 
they coincide with each one's consciousness, and are 
corroborated, by uniform experience, from surrounding 
objects. It is owing to these principles, as thus infixed 
with the native logic of the mind, and not to any thing 
resembling the arbitrary systems called grammar, that 
any set of human beings have been able to frame a 
speech, and use it, intelligibly among themselves, or 
transmit it to a succeding age. 

In examining this essential formation of language, 
we are struck with wonder, to see how few, uniform, 
and sublime, are its rules ; and find our admiration still 

9.# 



18 SYNOPSIS. ' 

increased, in contemplating the limitless operations 
which these few rules can perform. 

Language, in its arbitrary modifications of words, or 
its mere conventional character, is subject to so many 
and various changes, depending on no certain principles 
of investigation, that it is chiefly, in this respect, to be 
learned as matter of fact, in relation to each term, and, 
In some degree also, to each special case. Difficulties 
which arise under this head are seldom to be removed 
by formal rules ; but, with limited conformity to broad- 
er principles, resolve themselves into questions of fash- 
ion and good taste. They are like the privileges of a 
city, free in their special enactments, but limited in 
their validity, by the predominant laws of the state. 

It appears to have long been a prevailing miscontep- 
tion, that grammar is to multiply its prescriptive man- 
dates and exceptions, for every form of utterance, in- 
stead of giving a clear understanding of principles by 
which all doubtful points may be tested. A thousand 
rules of syntax, if they could be learned, remembered, 
and formally applied, in rapid speaking, could not, of 
themselves, teach the elegant use of language. On the 
other hand, the pupil will require very little time to un- 
derstand, in a practical way, the reason why the writers 
have supposed that '^ adjectives of likeness or unlike- 
ness govern the dative case^!'^ or to see how a future 
tense, in any language, must be explained, when he is 
shown the barrier which the Creator has opposed, to 
every real deviation by human skill. 

The essential construction of every language de- 
pends on the following principles \ 



SYNOPSIS. 19 

Distinctive objects of perception, in nature, are pre- 
sented to the mind, through the mediunn of one or 
more of xh^ Jive senses. 

Each object of direct and original perception,^ is a 
7naterial substance^ as, for instance, an orange. 

The perception of this object is more or less vivid, 
in proportion to the nature of the things and the man- 
ner of its presentation to the organs of sense. The 
idea^ in the mind, is the retained impression^ transcript^ 
or inwrought image^ of this object ; and, in its clearest 
form, true to the original, to such degree, that the per- 
son, having competent skill in painting, might copy the 
object from his own mental picture ^\ so as to exhibit 
a correct resemblance to the orange^ if it should be 
brought again, to compare. 

The spoken xvord^ in language, is the conventional 
sign or representative^ of the idea^ and also, by neces- 
sary consequence, of the object of perception from 
which that mental image is derived : for the one being 
a proper resemblance of the other, the third likeness 
must represent either of them, according to the self- 
evident law of mathematics, that two things mutually 
equal to a third are equal to each other. 

The alphabetic -written rvord^ is the type or sign of 
the vocal utterance. It also represents both the idea^ 



* An attempt will be made in an other place, to show that mere 
sensations do not become the means of definite ideas. 

f It is not expected here to explain haw the idea is infixed in the 
mind, nor to say what is the best term to denote it, but merely to ex- 
plain the leading" fact. 



20 SYNOPSIS. 

and tjie origirial object^ on the same principle as be* 
fore. 

The proper idea of an orange must include, not only- 
its appearance to the eye, but also its taste, smell, feel- 
ing, weight, and other qualities, as known to the person. 
This idea of the orange must become varied, more or 
less, in its extended application, from the incidental fact 
that all oranges are not alike. Precisely the same varia- 
tion must attend the meaning of the term in language, 
where its adaptation to the thing is accurately known. 
The clear and exact knowledgeof words, then, depends 
on the two fold circumstance, that, as signs, their pro- 
per connection with the things signified is duly pre- 
served ; and that the objects denoted are, according to 
their own distinctive forms and included parts, well un- 
derstood. 

This immediate connection between words^ ideas^ 
and things^ necessarily existing in their elementary pre- 
sentment, the same conformity must be relatively pre-? 
served, through all their ulterior combinations. 

Alphabetic words differ widely in their character, 
from symbolic writing, or from mere arbitrary signs, as 
in the figures used in algebra and arithmetic. A picture^ 
as of an orange^ bird^ or other object, calls up the idea 
of the thing by obvious similitude, and its qualities by 
association ; but the written word has no such direct 
resemblance to an original object. Its meaning, as an 
adopted sign^ depends on learning its connection with 
tht thing signified. A few imitative sounds, in spoken 
words, form a very limited modification of this prin- 
ciple, in its vocal application. 

All which can be properly understood by general^ or 
abstract^ terms^ in language, must depend on the simple 



SYNOPSIS, 21 

fact, that a word beginning in specific application to a 
single thing is extended to all others of a class, under 
the general distinctive appearance, or descriptive cha- 
racter. Such a general idea^ and its verbal sign^ be- 
come very extensive, when the included individuals of 
the class are numerous, and much varied in their secon- 
dary characteristics \ for the nature of the case requires 
either that a new term should be invented for each mo- 
dified perception which can take place, or that a single 
w^ord should apply to a whole set of thiiigs^ relatio?2S^ 
or actions^ included under a prevailing idea. 

From a cautious investigation of physical and intel- 
lectual principles, it will probably appear that all enti' 
ties which the mind contemplates as things^ or which 
names can denote, are either material objects, capable of 
being directly perceived by the organs of sense, or they 
are inferential deductions from them, on the grounds 
of analogy, cause, and effect : for these relations stand 
so connected with the reasoning powers, that no other 
secondary conception of the mipd can precede theme 

Names of things are, therefore, inevitably the prime- 
val words, as parts of speech ; and all other terms, ap- 
parently different, are but derivative forms ^ arvd nexv ap' 
plications of nouns. There is no need of description^ 
till there is some thi?2g to describe: quality^ without a 
previous receptacle^ could not exist ; nor could its dis- 
tinctive sign be known, but by reference to a previous 
standard perception, with which it is compared ; and 
every action presupposes an efficient agent ^ and means ^ 
as things necessary to its taking place. 

A small number of noxms^ of early and very exten- 



22 I^YNOPSIS. 

sive use, have acquired, in the progress of literature, a 
modified and convenient application under the name of 
pronouns. 

The Engfish word he is of this kind, signifying 
breathy vitality^ lights life^ being ; an animal ; a being 
who possesses and exercises the vital functions^ who 
breathes and lives. 

In its present use, it denotes a single being of the 
masculine class. From common consent, also, it re- 
ceives a farther restriction in modern practice, by being 
employed, in construction, as agent and. not object oi 
the verb. /, thou^ she^ her^ and all the other words be- 
longing to the class of pronouns^ are to be explained in 
the same manner, as so many supernumerary terms, 
serving the purpose of variety and relief in the use of 
names. 

On philosophic principle, each of these pronouns 
takes the same adaptation to the things and the same 
relations to other words, as the immediately appro- 
priate name would do in the same place. As a single 
person may be son^ father^ brother^ and citizen^ which 
are different names of the same man^ so each mascu* 
line animal is designated by he^ as an appellation com- 
mon to them all. 

He who speaks little Is wise. 

The single male being who speaks little is wise. From 
necessary association, we understand that breather who 
can speak much or little, and who may be wise ; that 
is, a human being. 

The use of adjectives is founded entirely on the com-- 



S7N0PSIS. 23 

parisons of things with each other. They are words of 
description, or of specific relation. 

Every adjective^ however disguised in form, is either 
a noun or a participle; that is, a primary word, employed 
in a modified^ or secondary use : for it is not within the 
compass of the intellectual powers to define or describe 
any thing in nature, but hy its relation to some other 
•things or to a verbal action. When the noun is made 
an adjective by use^ it describes one thing as placed in 
some condition of being, or partaking of some charac- 
ter, in relation to an other ; and commonly such as is 
essential to the thing described ; as, an orange grove^ 
a marble column. 

Here the colwnn is primarily and essentially a marble 
one, and will be so, as long as it is a column : but if we 
speak of an upright^ erect^ or erected^ column, it is, for 
the time being, such as these participles describe it ; be- 
cause the act of erecting made it so. 

Without such virtual meaning of the nouii or verb 
included, this adjected word^ as a sign^ could not sig- 
nify any known property of bodies, or any object of 
distinctive perception, on which the mind could rest, 
to acquire the idea : or, even, if the thought could pos- 
sibly arise in the mind of one person, he could not 
transmit it to an other ; for, without such known stand- 
ard sign^ they could have no common medium of in- 
tercommunication. 

Various presentations, which, according to modern 
conception, arBn:raU^d qualities, consist either of some 
portion of matter unltfe4, with other bodies, or changed 
condition of things efFected^l^y action. 

The adjective, one^ ane^ aw, or a, is a past participle, 
si^vaiyiw^joinedy added^ aggregated^ united^ aned^ and^ 



24 SYNOPSIS. 

onedy made one. In other languages, ancient and mo* 
dern, it appears in the different forms, an^ aan^ aen^ ain^ 
ayn^ ana^ ae^ en^ een^ ein^ eine^ on^ ona^ un^ une^ unuSy 
iinay uno^ hun^ huna^ huno^ hum^ and many wider de- 
partures from what was probably its original form, as, 
through the ever varying circumstances of human ut- 
terance, it has, in passing from nation to nation, down 
the long train of ages, undergone its gradual, and sin- 
gly imperceptible changes. The adjective one^ an^ or a, 
under whatever yai^/iid?^ the word may appear, refers tq, 
and defines, so much of any portion of matter, as, ac- 
cording to ordinary understanding, is, or belongs, to- 
gether. It is the individual thing, not to be divided. 
Erase this idea from the mind, and let the learned 
scholar range through his stores to find its equivalent, 
with the same definite meaning affixed, in any other way. 
Myriads of single objects are seen ; but which of them 
is distinctively and essentially so ? The universe is one 
as an aggregated whole : each globule^ or separate part^ 
of which it is composed, is equally one. The tree is 
one ; each of its branches, or leaves, is one ; the trunk 
is 072e ; and so is each chip into which it becomes divi- 
ded. Any thing is one^ or oned^ while it is united^ and 
no longer. 

Two is a participle^ di-vided^ se-parated^ se^vered. It 
is the same with twa^ twae^ twee^ tzvi^ tvo^ tva^ tu^ tau^ 
duo^ duae^ diua^ dwo^ dvo^ dva^ du^ due^ di^ de^ deiix^ dos^ 
dois^ and others, as they have been, or now are, written 
among different nations. D and T are nearly approxi- 
mating sounds and habitually interchanging letters^ as 
most foreigners who speak broken English will satisfy 
any one who attends to the subject. i7, F, and W^ as 
they pass from one age or country to an other, are not 



SYNOPSIS. 25 

to be depended on for precision of utterance, and hardly 
to be considered otherwise than as different forms of the 
same vowel. 

The ^wi-light is so called as ^/^-tinguished from the 
prime light of day, and secondary to it. Twain is a 
compound ^ twa-ane J ain^ or an. 

First is a participial adjective in the superlative de- 
gree; Fir-est^ fur-est^ far-est^ fore-est^ fore-mo-est ; 
most advanced, in distance, time, or order ; farthest 
gone. 

Second is an active participle, di-viding^ seco^ secare^ 
secans^ secant^ secand^ second^ secando^ secend. The se^ 
cant of a circle is so called because it bisects^ dis-unites^ 
or se-parates the arc and tangent^ or servers them into 
di-vided parts. 

Txvo or second is restricted, by common consent, to 
the first division of the integral body, and thus acquires 
its fixed meaning as a numeral word. It is of no im- 
portance, as a rule, how or when the things became di- 
vided. 

The main difficulty, on this point, and others of like 
nature, is for the examiner to devest himself of the ha- 
bits acquired by long familiar use, and arrive at the 
simple philosophy of the subject. So accumulated and 
perplexing, too, is the body of mere learning, under the 
name of philology, grammar, and their kindred arts, 
that there is constant danger of being mazed in the 
wilderness of words, and losing the essential principle, 
in the multiplicity of conflicting authorities, of incidental 
facts and associations. 

The class of words called nouns ^ then, include all 



26 SYNOPSIS. 

entities^ material or inferential, which names can denote, 
or the mind conceiv^e. 

Adjectives comprehend the ideas of comparison; whe- 
ther description, state of being, identity, restriction, or 
direct relation, as such, under every variety, which 
things^ not barely mfact^ but also in imagination^ ever 
assume. 

There is no employment left for other words, except 
the sublime one which the verb does perform, in ex- 
pressing the effective operations of primary and commu- 
nicated power ; whether in the complex being man ; in 
two adjoining particles of dust ; in systems of wheeling 
worlds ; or their eternal AUTHOR. 

Verbs are all of one kind, in every language, depend- 
ing on a common and simple principle, for their expla- 
nation. 

Every verb denotes action; because, First ^ There is 
no other office which it can perform, or by which it 
could acquire meaning or use ; and, 

Second^ Because the sublime truth that every thing 
acts^ at every moment, is a prime law of nature, the ex- 
perience of human life from the cradle to the grave, the 
predominating habit of thought ; and the ruling princi- 
ple of construction, in every form of speech. 

A real action necessarily supposes, a material sub- 
stance put into a state of motion, or of relative change ; 
or exerting tendency to change, to which a prevailing 
resistance is opposed ; or employed to resist the action 
of something else, and which is equally action, whether 
philosophically or grammatically considered. 

In what is deemed the imaginary action there must 
be, on the simplest principles of reasoning, a cause and 
a correspondent effect, with the requisite agency and 



SYNOPSIS. ^i 

means. Something, by implication at least, must take 
a new descriptive character, or relative condition, differ- 
ent from what it would have held, independent of such 
cause : consequently, there can not be, within the bounds 
of physical, or of intellectual nature, any action, nor in 
language any verb, without an object, either expressed 
or irresistibly inferred. 

The secret springs of action are not for finite wisdom 
to explain. No physiologist tells how the thoughts of 
our minds put our bodies in motion, or what gives the 
first impulse to thought. 

It will not be supposed that the animal frame, barely 
as an organized mass of matter, can act. There must 
be some unseen active principle within it: and by- what 
law the incorporeal spirit exists in the body, or directs 
its locomotion, in all the surprisingly varying modes, is 
entirely incomprehensible to human skill. According 
to the habit of thought and of expression, the vital pow- 
er is the cause of animal motions ; but wiihin the pro- 
vince of science, properly so called, neither this cause, 
nor any other, is understood, except as inferred from 
its effects. The principle is the same through the whole 
range of created things, as far as they are known ; and 
there is no clear line of demarcation between beings 
possessed of animal vitality^ and those imbued, as all 
are, with other livings or inherently active qualities. 
Men of science, in character as such, do not appear to 
recognize, under any name, a distinctive sort of things 
which can not spontaneously act. Even in the Linnean 
classification of the three kingdoms of nature, no cha- 
racteristic principle of this kind is at all contemplated ; 
for, according to the prime oracle in natural history, the 
prerogative which distinguishes the animal class is not 
the exclusive power to act^ but to suffer. 



28 ' SYNOPSIS. 

" Minerals grow. 
Vegetables grow and live. 
Animals grow, and live, 2indifeelP 

The distinction, again, in reference to the prin- 
ciples of action, admitting it to be well founded 
in theory, could not be consistently followed in 
speech or in thought ; for, if Buffon was unable to 
draw the division line between the three primary classes 
of existences, by any known means of judging, how 
could a refinennient which aims at distinguishing things, 
not by obvious appearance, but by their inscrutable 
springs of action, have been generally adhered to in 
practice, from the earliest ages to the present day ? 
Aristotle's ontology, or division of things in the known 
world, under the ten categories, with the extensive 
school systems built upon it, will be examined in an 
other place. Happily for language and the means of 
improvement, the mass of people followed a more ra- 
tional philosophy than the expounders Avho attempted 
to develop the mental operations. They who were 
not enlisted under any conjectural theory, as<:ribed ac- 
tion to all things, according to those manifestations 
which Nature constantly presented before them ; and 
iliat luminous teacher had no wrong theory to maintain. 

Where can modern science begin with better effect, 
than in coming back to the same elementary laws, and 
acknowledging the proofs which they every where ex- 
hibit. The zoophyte, the mountain ebony, or grain of 
fulminating powder, acts according to the aptitudes 
which, as imparted by Divine wisdom, it possesses, and 
man, v/ith his highest attainments, and hopes of immor- 
tal bliss, can do no more. It is not the essential ques- 
tion whether the machine is moved by ten or ten thou- 



SYNOPSIS. 2V 

sand wheels, but simply whether it goes at all. The 
operations of ivill^ under all the random definitions of 
that term, have no concern with any fundamental dis- 
tinction in science, language, or thought ; and to assert 
that man himself, the most complex of all agents, does 
not perform numerous actions independent of free 
choice and contrary to it, is to reject the lessons of 
every day's experience. Equally fallacious is every 
system which would refer its votaries to consciousness 
as an original principle, instead of a mere concomitant 
of action ; and one too, which, even in its highest earth- 
ly subject, is very limited in its extent. Must the col- 
leges still teach as a principle of language, that a per- 
son in an ague fit does not shake, unless he does so by 
design, nor the chime clock either uphold itself^ keep 
time^ or play a tune^ because it has no rational under- 
standing of its own movements ? How long are the 
nations called civilized to believe in the doctrine of 
words void of meaning, and of things without power to 
act? What is the piece of steel which forms the nee- 
dle in the mariner's compass ; and what does it do ? 
While the pilot, in the midnight storm, stands watching 
at the binnacle, this dead matter^ trembling with each 
surge which rocks the ship, graduates itself^ with un- 
erring skilly to its fixed points, and teaches practised 
seamen, when human tongues are mute. Is this ex- 
pression a mere figure of speech, or is it literal fact ? 
Is it action ? Does the Divine Wisdom act in this 
needle ? Yes : and in what created thing does that 
Wisdom not act ? 

The precise nature of action^ and of its verbal ex- 
pression, has long been a deep and mysterious ques*- 

3# 



30 SYNOPSIS. 

tion, in philosophy, and its attempted elucidation has 
drawn forth a vast extent of talent and learning, with 
little seeming utility in proportion to the means em- 
ployed. The following evidences appear to be offered, 
in the natural order of things, to guide our investiga- 
tions on this subject. 

The action which a verb denotes includes the corre- 
lative ideas oi power ^ caiise^ means^ agency^ and effect. 

All POWER is resolved into two Yix\ds^ physical ener^ 
gy^ and mental skilL Neither bf these two kinds of 
power can, in its essential character, be known, but by 
its effects ; for it is not as mere matter, apparent to the 
senses, that any substance can act. 

The CAUSE of action is simply that subject, which, in 
the consecutive order of things, either by volition, inhe- 
rent tendency, or communicated impulse, regularly pre- 
cedes, or tends to, the renewed condition of some thing; 
which new condition of the thing affected, would not, 
independent of such cause, take place, at the same time, 
in the same way. 

There must be a first cause of action, and may be 
as many intermediate ones, as links in the chain of va- 
riant things. 

The agency or acting can have no distinctive or 
absolute existence ; but is the mere temporary attendant 
circumstance of some body of matter which moves or 
acts. It must therefore be an error to suppose, that 
any specific action^ as such, is ever perceived. In the 
precise statement of the fact, it is not the actings or 



SYNOPSIS, 31 

change^ but the acting substance^ in its changing state^ 
which is obvious to the sense. 

The EFFECT of action exists in the altered condition, 
absolute or relative, of some object^ which the acting 
body has, by its operation, modified^ or produced. 

The important question remains, what is the action 
in its precise distinctive character, and what the single 
rule which, in philosophy and in practice, every where 
explains the verb. 

On natural principles, the first efforts towards the for- 
mation of language, must be irregular utterances, which, 
by repeated use, become distinct in their articulation. 
By degrees they acquire acknowledged meaning, in 
their application to familiar objects. While such terms 
are used singly^ they denote whatever manifestly be- 
longs to the object of perception, whether substance^ 
quality^ or action; but as soon as these ideas are sepa- 
rated, and their signs constructively arranged, it must 
be under the guidance of reason. It being easily un- 
derstood that no action can take place, nor be supposed 
to take place, without efficient cause and means, we are 
to inquire what indication is exhibited to the perceptive 
organs, to impress the definite idea of the change : for 
no action affords a single touch for the limner's pencil, 
independent of the thing which acts. 

A comparative examination of the operations in ma^ 
terial bodies^ of xht faculties of the mind^ and the struc- 
ture of speech^ each serving to rectify mistakes in the 
others, will, it is believed, when made with competent 
learning and skill, lead to the development of the fol- 
lowing principles : •^ 



32 SYNOPSIS. 

The distinctive perception^ which characterizes each 
action^ is that obvious portion of matter^ in a state of 
change^ which, as instant ?neanSj produces a resulting 
efect. 

The Verb is the name of this acting' substance^ so used, 
that, by its bearing as a word^ it imphes ^characteristic 
change^ effected by means (?/'the thing it denotes. 

Such a change in an acting body ends in the cha?iged 
co7idition of its own substance, or of some other thing 
which it affects. 

This renewed condition of an object may be absolute 
or relative: and, if the expressions refer to imaginary 
or figurative actions, or to such as, in the particular 
case, are not manifest to common observation, the ideas 
which they inferentially represent are founded on the 
uniform laws of construction -, and so far as any broad 
principle of language is concerned, are true to the scien- 
tific fact ; for there is no lucid grammar of W(?r</5 aside 
from their interesting connection with things^ and it is 
not in human power to speak or think, but in conformity 
with these exceptionless rules. 

When any prepared material called paint is used as 
the means of changing the color of a house, the work- 
men are said lo paint that house ; or, in reference to the 
instrumental means ^ they brush it over with paint ; or, 
as final effective means ^ they coat it over, with a coat of 
their own making. 

So, in succession, at the same building, they ploxv^ 
hoe^ spade^ and shovel^ the ground ; stone the cellar ; 
brace ^nd ptn the frame ; board^ splke^ nail^ slate^ tile^ 



SYNOPSIS. 33 

or shingle the roof; lath^ plaster ^ white-wash^ or paper, 
the walls ; and carpet^ mat^ or sand^ the floor. . 

It is the charact^istic action of a wheel to turn on an 
axle. Any thing which suitably performs that opera- 
tion is a wheel ; and whatever is moved by such means 
is wheeled. 

The slight changes which take place in verbs, for the 
y sake of euphony, or perspicuity, do not vary the princi- 
ple. To glaze the house is to glass it ; and to " clothe 
a person," means to cloth him, or supply him with cloths, 
or clothes. 

When the cold weather glazes or covers the river 
with ice, it creates, at the time, the glass cover, as the 
means, to produce this effect. It is the same w^hen the 
spring buds, leaves, and blosso7ns, the trees : but, through 
the ever varying conditions of things, neither the effect, 
nor the action, can, in fact, or in supposition, be in ad- 
vari<;e of the means on which it depends. 

The word step, is the name of the foot, become obso- 
lete, as a noun, except in its compound, in-'Step, the in 
or ijiner foot. 

Hot water breaks^ or cracks, or fractures a tumbler* 
By an unseen agency it creates a fracture, which, as 
manifest appearance, is the first resting place for the 
organs of sense. 

The makers of speech did not see caloric in water ; 
and iht fracture itself is the only visible means of les- 
sening the beauty or use of the tumbler. 

The mistakes respecting general or abstract terms in 
IJinguage are mischievous in practice. If a verb cojUd 



54 SYNOPSIS. 

signify every thing, it, of course, would mean no thing 
distinctive : but words are not so made ; though they 
isfiay be loosely used, by not being understood. Every 
verb begins where the characteristic action is in some 
way distinguishable by the organs of sense; for the strong- 
reason that this is the only manner in which it possibly 
can begin : because it does not appear to be within the 
compass of the intellectual powers to make a verb to ^ 
distinguish anyone kind of action from any other kind, 
but by taking a pre-existing noun, and making it verb by 
use. Such verb takes an after application, more or less 
extensive, to other things, on the ordinary principles of 
analogy or resemblance. To carry any object^ is to move 
it, on a car^ or cart^ or car-riag-e^ of some kind or other. 
That the trillion-form bodies in nature require carriages 
of different fashions for their conveyance, is an inci- 
dental circumstance, growing out of the necessity of the 
case, from the importance of the action in its primary 
character, and the vast extent in which it is applied. 

It becomes necessary, from the nature of the case, 
either .to make a new word for each special modifica- 
tion, required in use, or to give an extended application 
to a single term under one prevailing idea. The mil- 
lions of books in the world are countlessly varied in 
their minor points of difference, while they agree in a 
general character which makes them all books. It is 
the same with carriages ; and this variety which thiiigs 
present is unavoidably transferred to relations and ac- 
tions. The idea of a relation is made of the ideas of 
the related things in their proper bearing to each other ; 
and the import conveyed to the mind by a verb is full 
and clear in proportion as the agent^ instrumentality ^ 
and result^ on an object, are well understood. The es- 



SYNOPSIS. 35 

sential meaning of the verb to carry ^ ts to use some 
kind of support or vehicle of convejauce^to move some 
thing from one place to an other. All supposed devia- 
tion from this is incidental^ growing out of the differ- 
ence in agents, transported objects, and means employ- 
ed. As to the intrinsic conception of the action to carry ^ 
it is of no importance whether the carriage is made of 
iron, gold, or wood ; w ith one wheel, two, or four, or 
without any ; whether composed of flesh and bone, 
water, earth, air, or electric fire. There is no end to 
the perplexing technicality which, knowing nothing of 
the true principle, would multiply distinctions for every 
discoverable modification in terms, as applied to carry- 
ing things. If there is a word in any language which 
has forty different significations, it might as well not 
have any : for that which means every thing, can not, 
of course, have any definite import, and such a term 
would need an explanatory key, as often as it was used, 
to show in which of its senses it is to be taken. 

The distinctive principle of verbal actions here hint- 
ed at, may be exemplified through all the forms of 
words ; but the limits assigned preclude farther detail 
in this place. 

To explain tlie sublime springs of action v/hich per- 
vade the system of nature, is not the purpose of this at- 
tempt. The influence of gravitation is known to exist 
in all bodies ; but if this potent energy operated alone, 
all matter would rapidly fall into one mass. It is coun- 
terpoised by the complicate projectile forces, in a uni- 
verse of intervolving spheres. 

These are subjects for deep science, with its ample 
aids, to exhibit to view. The more familiar laws of 
elective affinity, of corpuscular and ihagnetic attraction. 



36 SYNOPSIS. 

of glutinous cohesion, and others, are to be sought m 
their proper place. Similar principles apply to all com- 
binations of mechanic powers, whether in the Archime- 
dian engines, or in animal frames. Civilized man may 
learn the activity of matter^ from every scientific book. 
The savage reads it alike in the roaring cataract, the 
murmuring rill^ and the vine, with its tendril fingers, 
creeping over his bower : the genius-gifted admirer of 
nature, delighted^ views its quickening glow, in " the 
^vhole surface of enlivened earth ; or in the ' rejoicing^ 
^ powerful king ^'^^ 

Who " sheds the shining day, that burnish'd plays. 

On rocks, and hills, and towers, and wandering streams j 

High gleaming from afar !'* 

By what process should the intellect frame words to 
stupify its own powers, and create that inertness which, 
except by misguided credulity, is no where found ? 

The true exposition of speech, in its connection with 
matter, and with the faculties of the mind, affords that 
reciprocity in subject, and in corroborating proof, which 
may in vain be sought in any thing else. In every 
tongue this reciprocity exists, and points to a new use 
of language, of incalculable benefit to the progress of 
knowledge. 

In most branches of science, there are some truths 
more clear in their simple proposition, than any means 
of elucidation which can be brought to explain them. 
The plain philosophy of language furnishes instances 
of this kind. Such philosophy is not founded on the 
conjectures of individuals, nor the musings of a clois- 
ter. It is the slow growth of ages, from the practical 



SYNOPSIS. 37 

observ-ations of practical men ; and the corrector of 
those wanderings from which no single mind can be 
free. It is the store-house where, for thousands of 
years, the plain common sense of mankind has reposited 
its enduring treasures ; and where the investigator, 
who would learn the distinguishing faculties of men as 
they are, must repair for his choicest means of induc- 
tion. 

It will not always seem a paradox that the deep se- 
crets of nature are chiefly to be sought in words ; for 
the inquirer in this department of knowledge, w\\] find 
that, after devoting years to the subject, and trying to 
understand the best authors on natural science, he can 
have no definite and extensive views of the divisions 
between substances^ properties^ ^x\6. actions^ but in com- 
ing back upon language, to see how the terms which, 
according to general experience, denote them, assume 
their relations with regard to each other. 

In every appropriate subject of inquiry, the plain un- 
derstanding of mankind, reasoning upon facts, from 
practical observation, forms all science truly so called. 
It was the singular felicity of Newton to place the ge- 
neral cause of learning in a different situation from what 
he found it, to jf greater degree than any other human 
being has ever done : yet all which his resplendent mind 
performed, will be found, on strict scrutiny, to consist 
in a vigorously extended application of the principles of 
sound common sense. 

" By their fruits ye shall know them," is applied to 
minds, as well as trees ; and whether taken as a maxim 
in morals, or in science, it is equally true. The percep- 
tible fruits of intellect are either language or conduct : 
but the mduction of mental character, from human ac« 

4 



SS SYNOPSIS. 

tions, IS to be drawn chiefly from facts recorded in 
words. Neither is any individual able to read the con- 
sciousness within himself, but by an instrumentality 
equivalent to the use of speech ; for, however the votary 
of abstract ideal systems, may try to separate his mind 
from its means of expression, the thoughts which his 
frameless hypothesis would thus confine and analyze, 
had their elements shaped, and the laws of their combi- 
nation established, before he beared the names of Epi« 
curus, Berkeley, or Malebranche. 

The positions thus faintly sketched being admitted as 
tenable, it follows that all language, and the reasoning 
connected wiih it, rest primarily on the evidence of the 
senses. If, from slight inspection, it should appear to 
any, that such reasoning leads to that degrading, com- 
fortless doctrine of materialism, into which some theo- 
rists have fallen, nothing is farther from such a tenden- 
cy : for if any scientific research could bring the philo- 
sopher to feel the swelling soul within, and prostrate 
him in adoration before his God, it is when, from rang- 
ing through the world of matter, he surveys the ascend- 
ing scale of intellect, to that Source of Light and Life^ 
where vision and thought are absorUed, in splendor 
opening beyond human view. 

These propositions, as crudely advanced, belong to 
a system too extensive, even in its outline, to be sub- 
mitted entire, in this place. From the manner in which 
they are suggested, without the proper connection and 
accompanying proof, they are probably liable to be mis- 
understood. On the other hand, it seemed necessary 
to make some allusion to them, in their relation to the 
grammatical principles contained in the present work^ 



ELEMENTS 



OF THE 



ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



This work Is divided into two parts : 

First; Grammatical Principles. 

Second \ Criticism and Practical Exercises. 

PART I. 



CHAPTER E 

NATURE AND DESIGN OF LANGUAGE. 

1 . The term language is derived from the French 
words, langue^ the tongue^ and agir^ to do. It means, 
in literal English, tongue^xvork^ or that which is per- 
formed with the tongue. In its extended meaning, Ian- 
guage is any system of signs by which intelligent beings 
make their thoughts known to each other. 

2. Language is of two kinds, spoken and written. 
The first transmits thoughts by regular sounds of the 
voice ; and the second by suitable letters, or characters, 
presented to the sight. 

Example, 

In speaking" the English word earthy the sound which is uttered, 
signifies, by common consent, the globe we inhabit, or the fine divi 
of which its surface is composed. The five letters as placed tc 
gpell the -word, represent both the sound, and the thing which it de 
notes, wherever the same language is used. 



40 DESIGN OF LANGUAGE. 

General DejiiiiUons and Divisions of Grammar, 

3. Grammar is an explanation of the principles of 
speech. 

Its design is to teach the right understanding and use 
of words. 

It is intended to malce this volume, as far as possible, a work of 
practical iitility, in plain English. The origin of the word grammary 
the principles and liistoric circumstances with which it stands con- 
nected, and the numerous modifications which it exhibits in its 
transmission through different ages, though very interesting to those 
who appreciate them, do not fall v/ithin tlie plan of the present at- 
tempt. 

4. Grammar is divided into four principal parts ; 

Orthography^ Etijmologij^ Syntax^ and Prosody, 

This is the long standing division in grammar, and it is substan- 
tially correct ; but there is no complete separating line between 
these parts, nor is it necessary that there should be. A proper 
knowledge of Etym.ology is necessary to Orthography; and the con- 
trary. Syntax depends on what Etymology explains ; and Prosody 
is to be adjusted according to the understanding acquired under 
the other three heads, 

(5. Orthography is right spelling. 
It explains the letters^ with their sounds^ and the pro- 
per joining of them, in syllables and words. 

6. Etymology teaches the derivation, meanings 
changes, and classing of words. 

7. Syntax is the just arrangement of words in a sen- 
tence. 

8. Prosody shows the best placing of accents to pro* 
duce harmony, and applies chiefly to poetry. 



4i 

ORTHOGRAPHY. 

9. The letters of the alphabet are intended to repre- 
sent the different sounds of the human voice. 

In a perfect system of alphabetic writing", each character should 
represent one uniform sound, and no more ; bat many accidental 
variations take place, from time to time, to prevent such regularity 
in practice. The typical characters used in writing assume great 
interest in reference to the changes they have undergone since their 
invention. Among different nations, the number of letters has va- 
ried, from sixteen to two hundred and fifty -six, which is the present 
number in the Sanscrit, as used in India : but this is an alphabet 
chiefly of syllables, rather than single letters. 

- 10. A Syllable is the sound, of one letter, or of as 
many as may be pronounced by gliding into each other, 
without breaking the voice. 

11. One, two, or more syllables make a word^ which 
is the sign of an idea in the mind, and of a distinctive 
thing from which that idea was derived. 

12. The English alphabet has twenty-six written let- 
ters. Seven of these stand for vowel sounds^ and nine- 
teen for consonants. 

13. The voxvel sounds are expressed by a, e, i or y, 
^, and u or w, 

A true vo-welis a perfectly sifnple soundy and can be distinctly ut 
tered by itself. From the time it is begun till it is finished, the or- 
gans of speech are kept in the same position. 

Five sounds denoted by a; two by e; the short i ; o in note, and in 
move ; u in mute, but, ^nd full, all are pure vowels. 

14. Two vowel sounds, running into each other in one 

syllable^ form a dipthong ; as, on in roimd^ oi in coin. 

Long i in fve, though represented by a single letter, is a dip- 
thongal sound. It is the same in English with the letter u, pro- 
nounced like iu, or i/u, when sounded by itself, 

4^ 



42 ORTHOGRAPHY. 

15. The consonant sounds cannot be pronounced 
without the vowels. 

Note. An extended illustration of Orthography, with the mean- 
ing of syllables found in modern words, is to be given in an othex' 
work. 

Enlightened instructors are aware of the importance of convenient 
reference in class exercises. To facilitate such reference, this 
work is divided into short chapters, with sections and questions 
numbered to coiTespond with each other. 

The portion in large type is intended to be committed to memory. 
The remainder to be read with attention under the guidance of a 
teacher. The system, however, is chiefly designed for schools 
where instruction is conducted on reasoning principles ; and not 
those numerous ones where forms of words, right or wrong, as found 
in books, are merely taught by rote. 

§luestions to Chapter L 

1. What is the meaning otlanguage? 

2. What kinds of language are there ? 

3. What is grammar ? What is its design or intention ^- 
. 4. How is grammar divided ? 

5. What is orthography? 

6. What does etymology teach ? 

7. What is syntax ? 

8. Of what use is prosody ? 

9. For what purpose are letters used ? 

10. What is a syllable ? 

11. What makes a word, and what is it ? 

12. What letters has the English alphabet ? 

13. By what letters are vowel sounds expressed ^ 

14. What forms a dipthong ? 

15. How are consonant sounds pronounced * 



4:5 



CHAPTER 11. 



ETYMOLOGY. 

1. It belongs to this part of gramm?r to show wha't 
each word means ; to what part of speech it belongs ; 
and what changes it may admit, while it is considered 
the same word. 

The principles which properly belong to the department of ety- 
mology, and the extent in which they are to be treated in a system 
of grammar, do not appear to be laid down with any tolerable accu- 
racy in the books. If it is only to include the present modifications 
of what is considered the same word, then its extent is very limited, 
and its importance comparatively trifling: but, if, as seems to be its 
true province, it is made to comprehend the origin and history of 
words; their philosophic applications to things, according to the laws 
of nature and of thought ; and to show either that this original 
meaning has been preserved, or the fact, and the reason why, if a 
change has taken place, it presents the subject in a very different 
light, and as one of exceding interest. Etymology, so understood, 
of course does not belong to an elementary work; but this kind of 
research is absolutely necessary to the development of langijage 
on any thing like scientific principles. No one can suitably explain 
grammatical relations v^'ithout knowing the meaning of words; this 
meaning is not to be guessed at, or judged of by a superficial 
view, but to be ascertained; and the research for such purpose is 
etymology. It is as necessary to a correct and scientific exposition 
of language, as physiology or anatomy is to the knowledge of the 
hum.an system. There is, in the minds of supe^ficK^l observers, a 
blind prejudice on this subject, arising in part, perhaps, froui the 
manner in which attempts in etymology, as deduced from the mere 
forms of words, have been conducted. The studying of language at 
all is eitlier to ;cquire an extended knowledge of facts, or, by a 
clearer understanding of governing principles, to rectiiy tne occa- 
sional errors in practice. The short way to judge of any irregular- 
ity, is to compare it with the standard from which it deviates; and 



44 ETYMOLOGY. 

the appropriate use of etymology is to ascertain that standard. Each 
unknown or disputed word is, by enlightened, scientific etymology, 
to be referred, as a si^n, to the distinctive thing, relation, or action, 
which it signijies. Such etymology will explain the enigmas in gram- 
mar, and settle many disputes which have long puzzled the world 
in a very unprofitable manner. 

Grammarians have, in their practical treatises, generally confined 
their etymology to the modern use of the same word in the same 
language. 

Example. 
To -walk, -walk, -walkest, -walks, walketh, -walked, are all called the 
verb to -walk. 

2. The different ways in which words are applied to 
things is called their manner of meaning, 

3. By such manner of meaning they are divided into 
the different parts of speech. Words name things, 
^ow/?ar^ them with each other, or express action. 

Thus -water is the name of a well known liquid ; a xvater plant grows 
in or near the -water ; a luater prospect is a view which includes a 
body Q^ -water i to -water a plant, is to pour -water upon it ; to -water a 
horse, is to give him -water to drink. In all these expressions, we 
employ the same word, and mean the same thing ; but we apply 
that meaning in different ways. 

John bought some buttons at a button ^diCiovy, to button his clothes. 
Here the word buttons is first used to name the articles which John 
bought; next to describe the place where he obtained them ; and 
thirdly to express the action which he did with them. 

4. Words are either primitive or derivative^ simple 
or compound. This division depends on the manner in 
which they are formed from other syllables or words. 

5. Primitive words are not derived from any other 
in the same language ; as love^ book., pen^ glass. 

6. Derivative words are formed by addi g letters or 
syllables to primitives ; as love-li-ness^ book-ish^ glass- 
es. 



ETYMOLOGY. 45 

7. Compound words consist of two or more single 
ones joined ; as pen-knife^ ink-stand^ day-book^ candle^ 
stick. 

Derivative words are, in reality, the same as compounds, though, 
to unlearned persons, they assume a diiferent appearance. The syl- 
lables added are distinct original nouns and verbs^ in a contracted 
form. The old words now commonly used as added syllables are, 
an, en, ence, ant, etit, aU cl, age, ar, er, or, ble, ed, 4Sy ess^ est, dom, 
hood, ic, ing, ion, ish^ ate, ite, ive,/y, ly, ty, and ous. 

To understand the derivations of syllables in the same language, 
or from a different one, is very important, in order to get a clear 
idea of their meaning. 

Fans in Latin, is a participle, and signifies speaking: In-fans is not 
speaking. The English word infant^ derived from this, properly 
means a child too young to talk. In law, an infant is any one under 
the age at which he can come into court to speak, and act for him- 
self in a civil suit. 

It has been before stated, that all objects of distinctive perception 
which the field of nature ever offers to our organs of sense, are thiiigs, 
their relations to each other, and their changes. No transmissible 
thought can exist, but in conformity to one of these three classes of 
obvious presentations ; and words are not devised in language to de- 
note ideas which never had existence in the mind. 

By dividing all words into these three primary classes as thus 
conformed to the nature of things, the subdivisions are lessened in 
number, and rendered far more simple and clear. 

The words which have been supposed to form distinct parts of 
speech, are referred to the explanations under their appropriate 
heads. Those called pronouns are nouns which have acquired si 
special and convenient use. Prepositions are participial adjectives 
showing the specific local relation of one thing to an other : the 
motley set of terms called adverbs will be singly explained ; and 
when any toord is understood, as a toovd^ it will be seen to be noun^ 
"jsrb^ or adjective. 



46 ETYMOLOGY. 

CLASSES OF WORDS, 

OR, AS THIY ARE GENERALLY CALtED, 

PARTS OF SPEECH. 

There are three sorts of words, nouns^ adjectives^ and 
verbs^ distinguished from each other by the manner of 
their use. 

9. Nouns are names of things ; as man^ lynx^ Boston^ 
Neptune. 

JSIan is the name of a human being \ lynx, of a quadruped ; Bos- 
ton, of a particular city ; and JSTeptune, of the imaginary god of the 
sea. 

10. Pronouns are a kind of nouns used instead of 
others, and serve to vary or shorten expressions ; as 
yohn Smith is good ; he learns well ; we must reward 
him. 

The pronouns he and him stand for John Smith, and the pronoun 
we stands for the names of the speaker, and of all the persons in 
whose behalf he speaks. 

11. Adjectives are words used with nouns to define 

and describe them : as, Her second and third daughters 

are amiable and dutiful children. 

The first three of these adjectives point out what persons are 
meant, and the last two describe them. 

12. A verb signifies to do some action; as, boys ^y 
their kites ; millers grind corn. 

13. Compourid or contracted words, so disguised in 
Hse that their true character is not generally understood, 
are by some writers called Adverbs ; as, aUready^ other ^ 
wise^ yester-day. Contractions is a better name for them 
where they can not be explained according to their real 
meaning. 



ETYMOLOGY. 47 

14. A preposition is a particular adjective describ- 
ing one thing by its specific relation to an other; as, He 
found the parrot under the tree, and put her in the cage, 
over the window, before ihe house. 

The preposition or adjective under describes the condition of be- 
ing in which the parrot was found. That state of being is one of 
direct local relation to the tree. 

Attempta are sometimes made, to represent by letters the indis- 
tinct utterances which break forth under some excitement, and 
which are not capable of being subjected to the regular forms of 
language. The sou. ids thus, without connection or rule, thrown 
into a sentence, are called interjections. They are not vvords ; and, 
consequently, not a part of speech ; tor, if they are capable of being 
used and understood, with a definite form and meaning, as words, 
they assume their proper depenaence in construction, according to 
that meaning, and are no longer interjections. 

^estions to Chapter II. 

1. What belongs to Etymology ? 

2. What application of words is called their manner of meaning ? 

3. -How are words divided by their manner of meaning ? 

4. How are they divided by the manner of their formation ? 

5. What are primitive words ? 

6. What are derivative ? 

7. What are compound words ? 

8. What are the sorts or classes of words ? 

9. What are nouns ? 

10. Define pronouns. 

11. How are adjectives used? 

12. What does a verb denote? 

13. What is said of adverbs ? 

1 4. What is a preposition ? 



48 



CHAPTER IIL 



NOUNS ;* 
sometimes Improperly called substantives. 

1. Nouns are n^mes of things;] as Tj'oy^ tree; the 
Ismus of Darien ; a student oi grammar. 

Tbe name used to denote the absence or destitution, as well as 
the reality of a thing, is a noun; 2iS nonentity ^ vacuity, invisibility, 
g'ttp, nought, not, naught, nothifig, 

2. Nouns are either common or proper. 

Beside these there is the set of supernumerary and special names 
C2i[\ed pronouns, alhided to in the Synopsis, page 22. 

These will be more particularly explained in the proper place. 

3. Com?no7i nouns are names of sorts or classes of 
things, according to their descriptive character ; as boy^ 
citi/j dog^ chair. 

4. A proper noun is the name individually applied to 
a thing or person, to distinguish him from t>thers of his 
kind ; as, George Barnwell^ Springjield^ Hylax, 

5. Boy is the common name of all young males of the 
human species, and George Barnwell is a proper name 
of one boy to distinguish him from others. 

* Latin nomen^ French 7iom, a name. 

-j- The wovdi thing \s derived from the old Saxon verb thifigian, to 
think. It includes every entity, either affirmative, negative, or sup- 
positive, which can be the subject of thought,- and, with this latitude 
of meaning, it is used in this work. For the philosophic explana- 
tion of the classes of things which nouns denote, see " Essay oa 
Language.*' 



COMMON AND PROPER. 49 

Sheep is a four legged animal, with split hoofs ; covered with 
wool, and chewing the cud. This description becoming well 
known, the whole is understood by mentioning the word sheep; and 
the long statement of particulars is avoided. 

Persons generally receive proper natnes ; because it is necessary 
they should be distinguished from each other, and referred to in a 
way of personal identity. They are morally responsible for their 
iiidividual conduct, and therefore should be distinctly known ; but 
no such principle extends to brutes. If a shepherd could know each 
sheep in his flock, from all the rest, they could not be thus known to 
his neighbors, and therefore to call them by specific names, would 
answer no valuable purpose in shortening discourse, 

6. Any word becomes 2i proper noun when used as a 
specific and absolute name ; as, " Cliristian Wolf^'^ a 
noted German robber. Thie ships " Congress^^"* and 
^^ Fair Trader y'"^^ The race horse ^^ Eclipse ^-"^^ ^^ The 
United States, "^^ 

7. Individual names become common nouns when used 
as words of general import ; as dunces; a judas^ mean- 
ing a betrayer ; jack tars ; many catilines ; the solornons 
of the city; " this is a deceiver and an antichrist,'''^ 

8. Names which denote an assemblage of things, are 
called nouns of multitude ; as army^fiock^ a score ^ herd^ 
a thousand. 

Some nouns denote an aggregation of many different things un- 
der one complex idea ; as a landscape, a city, the universe, the Co- 
pemlcan system. 

The word God is a common noun : because it is not applied to 
the Supreme Being peculiarly, or as an individual name ; but in re- 
ference to his attributes and relations, as the Ruler of the World. 
The word applies in language to many imaginary beings, or false 
gods, conceived of, as existing under a similar character. If there 
was but one national sovereign in the world, the word king would 
still possess the nature of a common noun; for it would not then be 
the specific name of the individual, but the relative appellation of 
his office and station, as chief magistrate of the realm. 

5 



50 KOUNS. 

9. To nouns belong person^ number^ gender^ and po- 
sition^ or case. 

The persons ^re first ^ second^ and third; or the ones 
speakings spoken to^ and spoken of. 

Most nouns are of the third person. They are' of the tecond 
person when directly addressed. A name is sometimes used to de- 
signate the s/>eaA7er, and is then in XYiq frat person; as, "Now I, 
Paid J myself, beseech you.** 

KUMBEK. 

10. Number is the difference which is naade in 
words, to denoteteither a single thing, or more than one. 

1 1 . The numbers^ or numeral forms ^ are two; singular 
and plural, 

12. The singtdar noun represents one thing, as ia;?- 
dit ; the plural, two or more, as bandits. 

13. Some nouns have no plural, either in idea, or in 
form ; 2iS fitness^ chaos^ universe ; others have no sin- 
gular j as tongs^ shears^ vitals. 

Sheep and deer are of both numbers ; as, a sheep ^ ten 
sheep : ixventy deer, 

'] lie word people stands alone, in ks character. Without chang- 
ing its form, it is either a noun of multitude, having no plural ; or, 
rerernng- to individuals, it has no singular; as, ** ^ unittfd people :''* 
J^hm.if people are of that opinion.** 

Tiic word cattle is without change ; singular in form, witli a plu- 
ral meaning. 

14. The pUirnI is commonly formed by adding s to 

the singular. This practice has some variations. 

\A hen the singular ends in c/i, sh^ us, x, or z, the plural is formed 
bv addrag es ; as^ bunch, bunch^^; dish, dish^j; mass, mass«/ biox, 
bux 'J, Distinctness of pronunciation, in this case, requires an ad- 



NUMBER. 51 

ditional syllable to be sounded. The words also which end with 
the sound of 5, r, or soft ^, require a final 5 to be pronounced ; r^s 
rose*, places, mazes, wage?. 

15. A small number of nouns, derived from Saxon, 
retain the old plural forms. Some of these add t}i to 
the singular; as ox, oxen; child, childr^'/z. 

Other words, formerly of this kind, have changed their forms, and 
superadded new plural endings, for want of being* properly under- 
stood. Of this kind are chick, chicke/i; kit, kitte?2; stock, stocke/i ; 
now written stocki;;^^; bat, battel; and others. 

16. The chief nouns which make irregular plurals, 
are the following : 

First, Those which, with the addition of es^ change 
f into V ; as, 

beef beeves, leaf leaves, wolf wolves, 

calf calves, elf elves, life lives, 

half halves, self selves, knife knives, 

thief thieves, shelf shelves, wife wives, 

staff staves, sheaf sheaves, loaf loaves. 

17. Singulars ending in y, form the plural in ies ; as 
cherry, cherrzV^ ; but if the tj is preceded by a vozuel^ 
the plural is regular; as, day, d^ys ; attorney, attorney6v 
money, moneV'^; and not mon^V^. 

The following nouns from the Saxon, do not come 
under any particular rule ; but are familiarly under- 
stood : 

man men woman women penny pence 

louse lice tooth teeth mouse mice, 

foot feet goose geese die dice. 

Cherubs and seraphs are proper English plurals ; but there is a 

sti*ange awkwardness in using the Hebrew pluml termination m to 

these words, and still adding s. 

Some other words are used to a considerable extent with foreign, 
ob«olete, or barbarous plurals. These are omitted here, as it is 



52 NOUMS. 

hoped they may soon be submitted to the public in a proper Eng- 
lish form. 

18. Proper nouns, as well as common^ admit the plu- 
ral number : as, forty John Smiths ; the twelve Cesars; 
both the lord Littletons; all the Howards. 

The plurals of nouns frequently signify different sorts of things, 
instead of mere increase of number; as, drugs, medicines, cloths, 
wares, joys, and gnefs, mean different kinds or modifications of the 
things which the nouns denote. 



GENDER. 

19. Gender is the difference in words as applied to 
the sexes, male and female. 

Names of males are viascidine ; those of females are 
feminine gender ; and the technical word neuter^ signi- 
fies those which are of neither sex. 

Many nouns are of both genders ; as person, scholar; others may 
be of either of the three kinds: as, one, ones; subject SLiid others. 

By a figure of rhetoric, personal qualities are often ascribed to 
inanimate things. This practice depends on fancy and taste, and 
not on grammatical rule. 

Mistakes are often made in capriciously applying masculine and 
feminine terms to things without hfe ; as, in saying of the ship Jupiter, 
Jlercnles, or John Wells, she sails well, 

20. In the forms of language, there are three ways 
of making the distinction of the sexes, 

1st. By words essentially different; as, brother^ sis^ 
ter ; wicie^ aunt ; lord^ lady. 

2d. By a different ending of the same word ; as add^ 
ing to the masculine ess^ which is a contraction of the 
Hebrew word essa^ a female, 

3d. By prefixing a descriptive word ; as, man ser- 
vant, woman servant ; a viale pigeon, female philoso-? 



GENDER. 5o 

phers ; gentlemen visiters, lady boarders ; a exue lamb, 
a she goat. 

In many languages, all nouns are, in grammatical construction, 
made masculine or feminine, according as the words, in their early 
use, happened to take the form, or become associated with the 
idea, of one or the other. 

21. The following are the principal terms employed 
in English to distinguish the sexes by different words. 

fern. 



mas, 
bachelor, 
boy, 
buck, 
bull, 
cock, 
drake, 
father, 
friar, 
gander, 
hart, 
horse, 
husband, 
king, 
lad, 
man, 
milter, 
nephew, 
ram, 
sloven, 
son, 
stag, 
steer, 
wisard, 



maid. 

girl. 

doe. 

cow. 

hen. 

duck. 

mother. 

nun. 

goose. 

roe. 

mare. 

wife. 

queen. 

lass. 

woman. 

spawner. 

niece. 

ewe. 

slut. 

daughter 

hind. 

heifer. 

witch. 



A considerable number of nouns have er or or for the masculine, 
and ess for the feminine of the same word ; as, sorcerer, sorcer^s>s ,• 
embassador, embassadres^r/ and a few others admit variations of dif- 
ferent kinds; as, wido-wery imlovf ,- marquis, marchioness; master^ 
mistress. 



5* 



54 NOUNS. 

POSITION^ or CASE. 

22. Nouns stand in different relations to other words ; 
as, Henry conquered Richard; Richard conquered 
Henry, The first noun denotes ^^ agent ox actor ^ and 
the second the object whom the action affects. 

23. The difference between agent and object is called 
position or case. 

Several languages express these different relations by varying 
the endings of the same word. The forms called cases in Latin are 
six : thus, 



Nominative 


dominus. 


a lord. 


Genitive 


domini, 


of a lord. 


Dative 


domino, 


to a lord. 


Accusative 


dominum. 


a lord. 


Vocative 


domine, 


O, lord. 


Ablative 


domino. 


from, with, or by a lord. 



The nominative case denotes the performer of an action ; and the 
accusative the object which receives its effect. 

Nouns have no such different endings in English ; and therefore 
it is more easy and proper, instead of asserting that a noun is in the 
r.omi native case, to say, according to the plain fact, that it is the 
agent v/hich performs an action ; or that it is the object which is in- 
fluenced by a verb or 2l preposition. 

They sent a letter to him. 
He sent an ansiverio them. 

Whichever did the action of sending to the other, is the ag-ent or 
actor ; the other is the object, 

(It will be found a very useful practice in schools, for pupils to 
adduce examples for themselves, in addition to those which their 
lessons may contain. This will not only sliow their knowledge of 
the subject; but by exercising their inventive faculties, will increase 
their interest for ulterior progress.) 



POSITION OR CASE. 55 



^estians to Chapter III. 

1. what are nouns? 

2. What are the kinds of nouns ? 

3. Define common nouns. 

4. What is a proper noun ? 

5. Explain the difference, 

6. What word becomes a proper noun ? 

7. Do proper nouns become common ? 

8. What are nouns of multitude ? 

9. What circumstances belong to nouns ? 

10. What is number in grammar ? 

11. Explain the numeral forms. 

12. What does the noun singular represent ? 

13. Do all nouns have plural forms ? 

14. How is the plural formed in English ? 

15. What forms have Saxon nouns ? 

16. Singulars ending in t/ .? 

17. Have proper nouns a plural number ? 

18. Explain the meaning of gender, 

19. What forms in words distinguish sex ? 

20. What different words ? 

21. Explain the relations of nouns. 

22. What is position or case ? 



56 



CHAPTER IV. 



PRONOUNS, 

OB 

NOUNS OF SPECIAL APPLICATION. 

Pro is the Latin adjective or preposition ybr. 

1. Pronouns are nouns used instead of others to pre- 
vent their tiresome frequency ; as, Fulton was an emi- 
nent engineer : he invented steam boats : xve ov/e much 
to him, 

Fulton was an eminent engineer : Fulton invented steam boats : 
Americans owe much to Fulton, The last sentence means the same 
thing" as the one before : but is more inelegant, by inserting the 
noun Fulton three times, instead of relieving it by the pronouns he 
and him, 

2. There is but one kind of pronouns. 

These words take the same relations, positions, or cases, in a sen- 
tence, as the nouns for which they stand ; as, in the lawsuit con- 
cerning the bull in the boat^ 

either it ran away with him, 
or he ran away with it. 
"Whichever did the action of running away with the other, is the 
agent, or nominative word ; and the one run away with, is the ob- 
ject, suffering or affected by the action. 

3. The following is the whole list of English pro- 
nouns, divided into agents and objects^ or actors and 
things acted upon. 



AGENTS AND OBJECTS. 57 



Agents or 
1st person 
2d 


actors, 

thou. 


Objects or recipients, 

me, 
thee. 


mas. 


Che, 




him. 


3d fern. 


\ she. 




her. 


neut. 


u 




It, 


Agents, 
we. 




Objects, 
US, 




ye or 
they, 


you,^ 


you, 
thertiy 





Both numbers, both genders, and all the three per- 
sons ; 

Agent, Object. 

who whom. 

In this list of pronouns, it will be seen that these words, by various 
forms, preserve, more clearly than the other nouns, the relations of 
number, gender^ smd position or case, 

4. Pronouns are of three persons ; jftrst, second, and 
third. The first is the person who speaks ; the second 
is spoken to ; and the third is spoken of: or the first 
person speaks to the second about the third. 

The Jlrst and second persons being present, are, of course, sup- 
posed to be kno7vn, and the distinction of gender in relation to them 
is therefore useless. 

5, Examples of pronouns in the two cases or posi- 
tions. 



* The plural pronoun you was applied to a single person of dis- 
tinction, at first as a mark of politeness and respect. Its use has 
now become general, and thou is scarcely beared in familiar dis- 
course. This magnifying of the single person in the plural form by 
way of courtesy, is adopted by many nations. It is becoming the 
established practice, for an individual monarch, reviewer, or editor 
of a newspaper, in the exercise of his prerogatives, to say %ve in- 
stead of /. 



58 PRONOUNS. 

.Agent, Object, Agent, Object, 

We teach them^ who believes it ? 

they beared i/^, you see her. 
he bonors them^ it affects whom ? 

she feared Ai??i, thou bearest him, 

/know thee, yelovQ me, 

6. Tbe pronoun ye was formerly mucb used, espe- 
cially in tbe solemn style, instead oi you: but it rarely 
occurs in modern writings. 

Who and whom are considered as belonging strictly 
to persons, and are not applied to brutes or inanimate 
things, except by personification. Tbe pronouns of the 
Jirst and second ^trsous, are necessarily confined to in- 
telligent beings ; because these only can enter into 
social conversation. 

The pronoun it often stands for a sentence, circumstance, or g:e- 
neral idea : as, " It is desirable that grammar should be truly ex- 
plained.'* Here the pronoun it represents the whole idea which 
the sentence conveys ; and/or -which -whole sentence, a single noun 
might readily be substituted, tho it is not. Other pronouns also 
stand for ideas equivalent to nouns. 

That special application which nouns acquire, under the name of 
pronouns, involves a very important principle, not only in the histo- 
ry of language, but in the science of the mind. The following hints 
may give some idea of this principle, the more full explanation of 
which belongs to an other work. 

The early names of most importance, and frequency of use, were 
necessarily such as had direct application to man himself; and if, as 
in almost every instance, such name was significant, instead of being 
entirely arbitrary, then some of the few words which might exist 
would be employed, to denote the man and the functions which he 
characteristically performed. To breathe is one of the most striking 
and distinctive manifestations of animal lite. It is that perception 
which would obviously present itself to any portion of mankind who 
niight have occasion to form a new language. The word, noun and 



PRONOUNS. 59 

verbl for breathy and to breathe, would be in some degree imitative of 
that animal exercise, and equivalent to he, hai, ho, hah, heh, as writ- 
ten by different nations, or to the sound of our letter h or he, the 
•'mark of aspiration or strong breathing." In all languages in 
which letter writing can be traced, this word appears to be in com- 
mon and important use, and, in all, to denote the same idea, wlie- 
ther called noun, pronoun, or verb.* 

The primary meaning of the word her is light. From the necessity 
of the case it included air, the existence of which, as a distinct sub- 
stance, was unknown to the early nations, as well as to the modern 
ones who have not made some considerable progress in science ; 
for air, at rest, is not obvious to the sense. Light and life, and live, 
are one word, as modified in the progress and refinement of lan- 
guage. To light, or life, or liven, or enliven, one's self, was the verb; 
and the secondary or inferential use of the noun was ihe possessor of 
light and life, and the enlivened being, which is now the exact mean- 
ing of her, 

Noims of so great use would need to be relieved by some variety, 
to obviate monotonous repetitions, and to express the shades of mo- 
dification required. The same people might soon form more than 
one; and those of different languages and dialects who are brought 
into contact with each other, are always prone lo interchange words 
of this character, each adding the terms of the other to his own, by 
which each tongue is enriched. 

When different words, meaning substantially the same thing, are 
brought into a language, they are not long used in the same manner 
of application. The noun he is by degrees used to denote the male 
part of the animal creation, instead of referring to tl^.e whole; and 
at last receives tliat exclusive application. By an other gradual con- 
ventional understanding, he becomes the single being, while some 
other noun is used to denote the plural ; and, again, it is agent, 
while an other ancient noun has obtained a correlative employment, 
as tlie object of a verb. The pronoun her has come by a similar 
train of gradation to its present conventional use in English. 

I'hese pronouns have not in reality changed their meaning. It is 
only the employment of that meaning within a limited sphere of ap- 
plication, by which variety and convenience in language are pro- 
moted. 



See page 22. 



60 PRONOUNS. 

The word beast, be-est, from be, is any thing which has life or be- 
ing", and if applied in its full meaning, would include the higher as 
well as lower orders of being. It is difficult to say what is its pre- 
sent extent of application. In some local districts it is exclusively 
horses, in others neat cattle. Till lately, it induded all insects and 
reptiles, as it now does in French. 

^(?7i is the Danish pronoun she. It is the s/n^/e/ema/e animal of 
any kind, instead of being, as now applied in English, the she of birds 
in general. The noun co-w is originally, noun and verb, life and to 
live ; but it is used to denote one kind of animal instead of all kinds. 
jyian is a pronoun in several languages, and in English is acquiring 
a conventional appropriation. It is said " ma?i is mortal ;" but we 
can not say, ox is stout, horse is swift, do^ is mortal ; because elegant 
usage will not warrant these expressions. All the words called pro- 
nouns are, according to the principles here alluded to, very signifi- 
cant original nouns, not with their meanings destroyed, or essential- 
ly altered, but with those meanings applied to a part, instead of the 
whole, of what they formerly denoted. 

^estions on Pronouns^ Chapter IV. 

1. What are pronouns? 

2. How many kinds of pronouns ? 

3. Give the list of the eighteen pronouns. 

4. How many, and what persons have pronouns ? 

5. Give examples of their position or case, 

6. What is said of the pronoun ye ? 

7. Who and ivhom ? 



61 



CHAPTER V. 



ADJECTIVES. 

1. Adjectives are words used with nouns to define or 
deacribe them : as, an able man ; two sensible young la- 
dies ; ripe fruit ; Jine silk velvet ; our daily bread. 

This part of speech is of very extensive use in distinguishing dif- 
ferent things, and different sorts of things, coming under the same 
general name. If it is asked, concerning a man, ivhat kind of per- 
son he is, it is answered he is old or youngy 7vise, ignorant, silly, 
feshy, lean, short, tall, pleasant, morose, dull, or active ; or he is de- 
scribed by any one of a hundred other adjectives, designating his ge- 
neral qualities, appearance, or traits of character. 

Other adjectives, instead of describing things in sorts or kinds, 
defne, point out, or specify directly ivhich, or ivhat things, how many, 
or hoiv much. 

2. Adjectives are of two kinds, defining and describe 
ing adjectives : but the difference between the two is 
not great, and they run into each other in various ways; 
as, when we say, '^ The northern hemisphere;" northern^ 
defines which half of the globe we mean, and describes 
its local relation to the other half. 

The chief defining adjectives are, an, a, one,* two, twain, three, 
and all the cardinal numbers; last, first, second, and all the ordinal 
numbers ; many, much, few, little, several, this, that, the, these, those, 
which, what, my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their, whose, other, each^ 
itvery, either, some, no, any, and all. 



* The word one is often used as a noun of very extensive applica- 
tion ; as, ** The knowing ones,-** " The evil One;** ** Pick out the 
l^ood ones, and leave the others.** 



62 ADJECTIVES. 

Most adjectives partake of both these two characters. In saying 
all quarto books, though the leading intention is to describe the 
kind, we necessarily limit the noun books to those only which are of 
quarto size. 

3. Examples of Defining' Adjectives. 

an ox, the Jive senses, our tivelve tribes, 

some birds, every four weeks, her seven sons, 

t-vo books, these forty days, ivhich several acts, 

fi// regions, this^ my last will, his much speaking, 

no noise, the tivelve tables, yourjirst letter, 

one pencil, those two witnesses, -whose -whole fortune, 

?7?rt;2z/ people, a// w/i/cA things, each tenth m^LU, 

4. Defining- adjectives answer to the specific ques- 
tion, tvhich or xvhat things, A^w mani/^ or how inuch, 

5. Many nouns become adjectives by use, and serve 
either to define or describe other nouns : as, 

windoxu glass, bonnet paper^ 

glass window, paper bonnets, 

beefc2LX\\e^ silk hats, 

oxhtti^ horse skin ^owts^ 

Smyrna figs, gun powder plot. 

6. Other nouns, in being turned into adjectives, re- 
ceive slight modifications of different kinds; as, a wood- 
ed! dish, a gloomy prospect, a nation^/ concern. 

7. One kind of these adjectives^ formed from nouns^ 
is of extensive use in defining or pointing out things by 
their individual relations to each other. 

These are commonly formed by adding ^, with an 
apostrophy prefixed : as. 

The slave's master, Cesar'^s funeral, 

Hamlet's father's ghost, Cicero's banishment, 
Wat Tyler's sedition, Maria's likeness, 

Montgomery's monument at St. Paul's church. 



ADJECTIVES. 63 

The least definite of all the defining adjectives is the word the. 
This word can hardly be said to define at all of itself ; as it does not 
confine the noun to either number, gender, person, or case ; but re- 
fers alike to all. It is of generiil use where it is not necessary to 
be very specific, or where a sufficient idea of the thing exists to an- 
swer the purpose of ordinary communication ; as a person at even- 
ing says, " The stars appear to night." How many or tvhat stars ap- 
pear, must depend on something more definite to explain. 

•* The wind blows." *' The camel is a beast of burden." 

" The luolves were heaped howhng in the xvoods,'' 

<* New-York was evacuated by the British army, and re-occupied 
by the Americans, Nov. 25, 1783." 

A particular aukwardness prevails in the employment of the nouns 
feio and many as defining adjectives. " A great many horses.^' if 
the words ^rea^ and maiiy were to be considered as adjectives, leav- 
ing them out would not alter the construction ; and there would then 
remain a horses. As we never, at present, hear the phrases ** afexu 
many,** ^^ little many,'* or" bad many," it seems quite unnecessary to 
speak of " a good many," as if it added something distinctive to the 
word many, ^^ J[lany floods," " The rushing of many -waters," would 
be rendered less expressive by the clumsy addition so often beared 
in modern conversation. Those who, in point of taste, prefer these 
redundant words, it is readily admitted, can find sufficient aiUhority 
for the practice. 

Several analogous expressions prevail in using nouns of number ; 
as, "a dozen, or a hundred men:" The word o/is understood after 
the collective noun, as in the phrase "a score of sheep ;" but the 
other phrases being more familiar, omit of, for the shortening of 
discourse. 

There is a set of defining adjectives showing the relations between 
the three grammatical persons, employed in discourse, and the va- 
rious things with which they may stand in some kind of connection. 

These words, in the existing systems of grammar, are called per- 
sonal pronouns in the possessive case. These words are mijie, thine, 
his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, and ivhose. 

Four of these five books are thine, and one is ours ; but ot^rs alone 
is worth more than all thine are. 

The word ours, shows that the single book mentioned stands in 
some kind of relation to the speaker and others, who, together, re. 
present the /rs^ /person plural. In the same manner, the adjective 



C4 ADJECTIVES. 

thine specifies an existing relation between the person spoken to, 
and the remaining four books. 

The words miney thine, Siud others of this class, are used when the 
nouns which they specify are not expressed in their place after them, 
but understood. When the following nouns are inserted, the adjec- 
tives defining the same relation, are changed to my, thy, his, her, 
itSy our, your, their, and -whose. 

Example. 

my children, the injuries are mine, 

thy parents, the benefits were thine, 

his friends, her debts become hisf 

our father, the evil designs were Aerf, 

your country, the day is yours, 

their king, liberty will be ours, 

-whose death, the prize is theirs. 

The injuries are mm^, implies that the injuries speci- 
fied are those which the individual making the asser- 
tion, either gives or receives, or with which he stands 
in some way connected. 

An extensive mistake has prevailed respecting the class of word* 

called possessives. 

" Samuel Badger, hatter, makes and sells all kinds of boys' hats.'* 
If the hats belong to the boys, it is improper for Mr. Badger to 

sell them ; but the boys have the right to go and take them when 

they please. 

8. Adjectives in English never vary for number, 
gender, or position ; but describing adjectives are va- 
ried to express the qualities and conditions of things in 
different degrees. 

9. The degrees of comparison are three, called the 
positive^ comparative^ and superlative. 

The comparative commonly is formed by adding er^ 
and the superlative by est ; as. 



ADJECTIVES. OO 

Fos. Coin. Super. 

clear, "' clearer, clearest. 

happy, happier, happiest. 

10. Many adjectives also take the termination ish^^ 
to express quality in a slight degree ; as, greenish. This 
ending is often used to form new adjectives, especially 
in familiar language ; as waspish^ sheepish ; inclining 
to the qualities of a wasp^ or a sheep. 

11. Besides what are called the regular comparative 
and superlative degrees of adjectives, they are compar- 
ed by each other, under a great variety of circum- 
stances. 

12. When one adjective is used to define or describe 
an other, instead of referring directly to the nouns, it 
may be called a secondary adjective. 

13. Secondary adjectives refer to the different spe- 
cies of things which come under one general quality ; 
as a sheet iron^ or wrought iron^ stove ; a seemingly 
good^ or real good vci2iXi. 

A Russia iron bar. 

Russia and iron are both adjectives : the first describes the second, 
and both refer to the noun bar. There are not only different 
kinds of bars, but also different kinds of iron of which bars are made. 

A shawl may be cotton, ov worsted, or silh, A silk shawl may be a 
China, French, or Italian one : and this again may be any one of a 
dozen colors; as, blue, red, ov green. The color takes various sub- 
divisions, sea green, grass green, pea green ; and these again may be 
pale, dull, bright, or deep. 



* This syllable ish, is from an old verb, traced through many an^ 
cient tongues, and will be explained in an other work. 

6^ 



66 ADJECTIVES. 

Many secondary adjectives are formed by adding ly or like to other 
words. 

An orange grove is a grove of orange trees. An orange-like grove 
is one which resembles an orange grove. A gentlemanlyy or gentle- 
man-like, person is one who conducts in character as a gentleman. 

The adjective like with some others has been a source of diffi- 
culty in parsing, as it requires an objective word after it, without 
any apparent reason under the existing explanations of adjectives. 
iJke is a past participle contracted for likened. The thing which is 
like an other, is made like it, or likened to it. It is the same with 
similar and many other words. 

A considerable number of adjectives are compounded of two or 
more simple ones. The word rohat is -which that, or that -which, and 
may refer to the agent of one verb and the object of an other. 

The youngest scholars who engage in the study of grammar, 
should endeavor to understand the meaning of the words in their 
parsing lessons: then, to distinguish nouns from adjectives, they 
should come directly to the fact, whether they are used merely to 
name things, or to point out and descnbe other things. 

Examples for practice. 

older men, some China ships, 

large trees, Solon the wise philosopher, 

a silver cup, Alfred the Great, 

an iron wedge, John's Camel's hair girdle, 

men, wise and good, that beggar's humble request, 

fresh Smyrna figs, ladies' best morocco shoes, 

many canal boats, fine British ink powder, 

dry walnut wood, most elegant marble chimneys. 

Pittsburg cutfiint decanters, 

Wiirr anted cast steel cradle sithes. 

Very old Holland gin, tvarranted pure. 

Genuine old Madeira wine, 

A gold mounted sword, 

Jin h.onest meaning person, 

A s-iow tvhite linen neck cloth, 

The chief city gate keeper. 



ADJECTIVES. C7 

AJiry red East India silk bonnet. 

a» defining adjective, referring to bonnet, 
Jiry^ secondary adjective, describing the kind of red, 
redy adjective, describing silk, 
East, adjective, describing India, 
India, adjective, describing silk, 
silk, describing adjective, referring to bonnet to denote the kind. 

The adjectives in this phrase come under a broad principle found- 
ed on the minor divisions in the sorts, qualities, and degrees, inclu- 
ded in the extended application of a primary descriptive word. 

Secondary adjectives admit the different comparative forms, either 
of a single or a duplicate kind, according to the nature of the rela- 
tions which they are employed to denote ; as, 

A dearly beloved, rziore beloved, best beloved child. 

A 6n^A^ purple, brighter purple, brightest purple robe. 

Little known, less known, least known truths. 

/// devised, -worse devised, ivorzt devised schemes. 

Very we//finished,/ar better finished, m\ich the bestjtnished houses. 

Adjectives of more than two syllables, and commonly those ex- 
ceding one, make their various degrees by secondary adjectives 
prefixed. 

Instead of adding er and est to atrocious, to mark its degrees, we 
use the expressions very, horridly, or shockingly atrocious deeds. 

The chief practical direction which can be given for the use of 
adjectives to modify each other, is that no two, in a single phrase, 
shall be employed to express the same idea ; nor more than one 
in what is called the comparative, or superlative form ; as, more -whi- 
ter, or any similar expression. 

For an exercise, let the scholar distinguish the secondary adjec- 
tives in the preceding examples; and then show the words to which 
all the adjectives refer. In the pjirase, "fresh Smyrna Jigs,'* ask 
the question, fresh -what ? or -what is fresh ? answer, figs. 

There are two sets of words called numeral adjectives. The car- 
dinal numbers which denote the amount, numerically taken ; and 
the ordinal numbers, showing the relative succession in the order 
of things. 



68 ADJECTIVES. 

cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers. 
one, first, 

two, second, 

three, third, 

four, and others. fourth, and the rest. 

The words dozen, hundred, and thousand, are collective nouns. A 
thousand men is that aggregate number taken as an entire body. 
The word of, which is understood in the singular, must be used in 
the plural ; as, " hundreds of persons." 

The other cardinal numbers are adjectives or nouns, according to 
their use ; 3iS,Jive dollars and ten cents ; or, 9ijive and two tens : by 
fifties, by ttventies, and twelves. 

Numeral adjectives, like others, may be secondary ; as, '* a five 
dollar bank note." 

The single and essential idea on which all adjectives depend is 
that o^ comparison, ov the relations of things to each other. 

It is said, in the existing grammars, that " an adjective is a word 
added to a substantive, and generally expresses its quality." 

This kind of definition, if it can be so called, leaves three very im- 
portant questions for the learner to settle for himself. 

1. What is this quality in its precise meaning, as depending on some 
known principle. 

2. By what medium or instrumentality is that meaning expressed. 

3. What office does an adjective perform, when it does not " ex- 
press quality ?" 

If there was, among the objects in nature, no difference to be ex- 
pressed, there w^ould be no need of adjectives: but these variations 
every where exist in what are called qualities. The use of adjec- 
tives is to distinguish things coming under the same name. The 
idea of a quality, as a some thing essential, appears to be a total mis- 
take. 

It w:*-3 said before, that all adjectives are either nouns ov partici- 
ples, made adjectives by use. 

Whatever has substance or body, must have form, extension, and 
color, and local relations to other things; with those also of resem- 
blance and contrast. 



ADJECTIVES. 



69 



After naming a substance, the design of an adjective, is to give 
the idea of its distinctive character to the person who does not know 
it before. To effect this, it becomes necessary either to show him 
the thing which you v/ould have him understand, or tell him its re- 
lation to some thing which he does know. This standard rela- 
tion to which he is so referred, for the idea of quality, must be 
some obvious appearance in nature, capable of being mutually and 
definitely understood, and therefore not liable to deceive. 

Suppose, for instance, we enter the field of nature to examine the 
principle which explains those striking " qualities^* of objects, inclu- 
ded under the term cohr. 



The following Uandards of color, among others, will be found, as 
referred to familiarly, in modern English, without disguise of the 
words. 



amber, 


fox. 


peach blow, 


ash. 


fustic, 


pearl. 


blood. 


gold, 


pink. 


bottle. 


grass. 


plum, 


brick. 


hacel. 


raren, 


butternut, 


ink. 


ro«e. 


carmine. 


indigo. 


ruby. 


carnation, 


iron. 


saffron, 


carrot. 


ivory, 


sea, 


cherry, 


j«t, 


silver, 


chesnut, 


lead. 


sky. 


chrome. 


leek, 


smoke, 


coal, 


lily. 


snow, 


cream. 


logwood, 


snuff. 


dove. 


mahogany. 


steel. 


ebony. 


milk. 


stone. 


fawn, 


mouse. 


straw. 


fire. 


mud, 


verdigris. 


flax, 


olive. 


vermilion. 


flesh. 


orange. 


violet. 



The predominating quaUtyy coming under the idea of color, i» 
green, a term slightly modified in its present use. Milton employ* 
it without disguise. 

** All in a robe of darkest grain, 
Flowing with majestic train,*' 



70 ADJECTIVES. 

Green is green colored ; grain colored, the color of the spring- 
ing blades oi grain. This term is too general to answer, of itself, all 
the purposes to be subserved. It therefore takes a number of se- 
condary adjectives to express the minor differences, in things which 
are green ; as bottle green ; sea, pea, olive, grass, verdigris, leek, or 
emerald green. In all these instances, it is seen that this quality of 
green is denoted by a noun, made secondary adjective by use. To 
describe the green thing, it is referred to some standard sign, which 
is green ; that is, grain, grain colored, or grain like. 

Thus it appears that these ^^ names of qualities,'^ are names of 
material objects^ affording the definite perception of what, for want 
of understanding the principle, is erroneously imagined to be a 
mere inherent property of something else. So far as language is, 
or can be, concerned, this mere relation of a thing to an other thing* 
affording some standing resemblance, is the unavoidable necessity 
of the case. 

In other adjectives, the reference is directly, to the effect pro- 
duced by an action, and thus, indirectly, to the thing which is the 
means of producing that effect ; that is, in the language of grammar, 
the word is a participle. 

The adjective red is rayed, a participle in a modified form. It 
is] the appearance of objects, produced by the raying or reddening 
of the morning beams, or other radiating cause. 

White is the subsfitution of tvh for qu, formerly used in a large 
proportion of the words with this beginning. It is quite, quited, 
quitted, clear, cleared, from all color, spot, or stain. 

Blue is the participle from the verb to blow. It is the sky where 
clouds and vapors are blov^n away : the clearing up, or fair wea- 
ther. The poet Thomson, drawing his lessons from nature, is 
true to these principles of language. 

" He, from the -whitening undistinguished blaze, 
Collecting every ray into its kind, 
To the charmed eye educed the gorgeous train 
Of parent colors. First, the^awm^ red 
Sprung vivid forth ; the tawny orange next ; 
And next delicious yello-w ; by whose side 
Fell the kind beams of all refreshing green ; 
Then thej&wre blue, that swells autumnal skies. 
Ethereal played ; and then, of sadder hue, 



ADJECTIVES. 71 

Emerged the deepened indigo ,* as when 
The heavy skirted evening* drops with frost : 
While the last gleaming of refracted light 
Died in the fainting violet away." Thompson, 

Foem to the memory of Sir Isaac J^euoton. 

The special adjectives of local relation, under the name of pre- 
positions^ also receive the secondary adjectives, in various ways of 
modification ; as, beyond^ far beyond, very far beyond Jordan ; 
entirely through^ or half -way through the plank ; exactly over our 
heads. 

The words called prepositions^ are all participial adjectives. They 
express the iocal relation of one thing to an other. That relation 
is, in fact, and in the contemplation of the mind, a produced rela- 
tion, and produced by action. The explanation of this principle, 
however, in its requisite extent; will best be understood after the 
exposition of verbs, and the participles formed from them. 

To say that adjectives express the qualities of things, far from be- 
ing a true elucidation of this important class of words, is chiefly 
calculated to mislead. 

A hot brick is not the quality of the brick. It may be alternately 
hot and cold, A line may be horizontal one moment, and vertical 
the next. The burned brick conveys incidentally, the idea of 
quality, because the burning of this article produces an effect which 
is lasting : but if we say " a slightly burned finger,** we do not mean 
that the quality of the finger is permanently changed. So, if we 
say a sick, or a "well man, we allude merely to the condition, in 
which, for the time being, the man may be placed. That the burn- 
ing of clay gives it the quality of hardness is an incidental fact, and 
does vary in principle, from the phrase a full or an empty cup ; a 
horizontal or vertical line. 

The adjectives like and o-wn^ have caused much difficulty. 

Like is the participle likened^ in a contracted form. Whatever is 
like, is so, because it is likened, or made like ; and it must be liken- 
ed to something else, as a matter of course, or it would not be like. 
It has an object before it, and an other object after it; and expres- 
ses the relation oi likeness, ot resemblance, between them. 



72 ADJECTIVES. 

Own id a past participle, from a verb signifying to vfork. All pro- 
perty which can be oxvned is the produce of labor. Any spot of 
ground which a man -worked originally was his -worked ground, and 
the crop it yielded, was what his work had produced. In the con- 
templation of law, and of the essential fact, it is the same principle 
thro all the modern forms of a commercial state. A man may work 
one kind of property and exchange it for an other, or may receive 
his father's -worked property by inheritance. 

§lu€Stions to Chapter V. 

1. What are adjectives ? 

2. How many kinds of adjectives ? 

3. Give examples of defining adjectives. 

4. What questions do defining adjectives answer ? 

5. What words become adjectives by use ? 

6. How are other nouns made adjectives ? 

7. What is said of an other kind of adjectives ? 

8. How do adjectives vary ? 

9. What are the degrees of comparison ? 

10. What other termination has adjectives? 

11. What comparisons have adjectives besides the regular de- 

grees ? 

12. When one adjective refers to an other, what is it called ? 

13. What is the use of secondary adjectives ? 

14. What are cardinal numbers ? 

15. What are ordinal numbers.^ 



73 
CHAPTER VI. 

VERBS. 

The term verb, verbum, or -word, is very appropriate, as used to 
denote this part of speech. It signifies the essential principle of 
activity or of life, and, in language, the distinctive expression of its 
exercise. 

1. A Verb signifies to do some action, as, " Farm- 
ers plow their fields ; Clouds shed rain to wei the 
ground ; the miser dies^ and leaves his gold. 

2. All verbs which form their past tense, and past 
participle, by adding d or ed^^ are called regular j as 
I rule, I Yoled^ I have my paper raled. 

3. Those which differ from this ending, are about two 
hundred, in English, and are called irregular. They 
generally consist of such as are, or have been, in most 
frequent use ; as, I write^ I wrote^ I have written a 
letter. 

4. Three things are to be considered in the use of 
verbs : 

I. An agent or moving cause which produces an ac- 
tion. 

II. The motion^change^or actings which the verb de- 
notes, 

• The ending ec? is a contraction from the old verb dede^did. Aun- 
ciente coustome blend-dede these words for convenience. Their con- 
traction afterwards was according to the general practice in lan- 
guage. 

7 



74 VERBS. 

III. The object which that action effects, 
5. David killed Goliah. 

I. David ^ the agent or actor ^ moved, changed, or af- 
fected some thing, or caused it to be done. 

II. Killed denotes the 771 ovementy actings ox operation^ 
which took place. 

III. Goliah^ is the object which that action changed 
Irom a living man to a dead body. 

Remarks on the Laws of Motion. 

The primary laws of action, as they exist in nature, are intimately 
connected with those subjects which form the chief amount of 
scholastic learning" ; and the want of suitable regard to their princi- 
ples must be an essential defect in any work on language. 

In submitting a few remarks under this head, it is proposed barely 
to offer, in a brief form, such explanations as have direct reference 
to purposes of utility : not to multiply distinctions, but to inquire 
whether the distinctions which have been supposed to exist, are 
not ahke destitute of foundation in fact, and of possible application 
m practice. 

It has been said by eminent writers that the word motion can not 
be defined. Let it be so ; and if, without a definition, it can be as- 
certained what the thing is, it will be easy afterwards to find the 
meaning of the term. 

To avoid being lost in the regions of conjecture, it is necessary 
to keep in view those obvious facts which are generally acknow- 
ledged by the plain sense of mankind. 

It will be recollected that, as before explained, the presentations 
of material objects, and the perceptions drawn from them, are natu- 
rally divided into t!iree classes. 

1. Entities^ or Mm^s, individually considered, and to which nouns 
are applied. 

2. Comparisons, or the relations which things, as such, bear to each 
other. This class of perceptions is the foundation for words of 
descviptiQii and specijication, called adjectives. 



VERBS. 75 

Actiensy motions^ or changes^ expressed in languag'e by verbs. 
These three classes, alike in nature, in thought, and in speech, 
inseparably depend on each other, and it is needless to say which is 
least or most important. The third class is to be explained, and is, 
from the principles which it embraces, by far the most extensive, 
varied, and sublime, in its means of elucidation. 

Every portion of matter is influenced by different active princi- 
plea, more or less complex, tending to produce change, existing 
both within itself and without, AH the perceivable operations in 
nature are a succession of effects, wiiich, as they are followed by 
other effects, become, in turn, apparent causes. The knowledge 
of their laws is derived from repeated observation ; and all active 
principles, alike inscrutable^ their own essential character, are in- 
ferred from the aggregate results which they are seen to produce. 

Beams of light and heat are emitted from the sun ; the air, une- 
qually warmed, is put in motion ; a tree is blown down ; and, in its 
fall, an elephant is killed. In other cases, thick vapors are pro- 
duced, hail and rain descend, the edifice is struck by lightning, and 
shattered in ruins. A series of actions run successively thro all ma- 
terial objects, each effect converted into the proximate cause of the 
next in order; while the real active principle remains for ever un- 
seen. Whether we speak of cohesion^ in glue, elasticity in India rub- 
ber, the gravitation of a stone, or vitality in the roe buck, all these 
springs of action, however variant in operation, are alike untangible 
by the sense. 

Semper causa latet; vis est notissima. 

To show that the fact, as well as the principle, of change, is often 
to be learned from its effects, instead of being directly manifest to 
the senses, we may place a red hot brick upon a cold one. In a 
short time it is found that one has lost, and the other has gained heat, 
and that an equilibrium is produced. The warmth, in passing from 
one body to the other, of course is not seen ; but the fact is inferred 
from the different state of things which has taken place, and which, 
according to the plainest dictates of reason, could not happen with- 
out the requisite means. The perception by which the action in this 
case is ascertained and asserted, is the contact of the two bodies, un- 
der the influence of a general law, by the necessary operation of 
which, as learned from experience, the heat is actually known u- 



76 VERBSc 

pass from one body to the other. The man who never heared of 
such a word as caloric perceives, equally with the best philosopher, 
t!ie material fact that one brick gains, and the other loses, heat. 
The distinctive manifestation that two bodies, of unequal tempera- 
ture, are placed together, with the tendencies they are knov/n to 
possess, enables any one of ordinary intelligence to determine, with- 
out seeing a stream of fire in its passage, that one is cooling, and the 
other growing warmer than before. 

If a powerful loadstone is let down, over a piece^of iron, to a near 
approach, the weight of the metal is overcome by the attraction; 
the mass is drawn up with considerable force to meet the suspended 
magnet. When these two bodies come in contact, the first being 
fixed in its place, they are both, in appearance, entirely at rest : 
yet, according to the ablest scienti|i||writers, other things being 
equal, the force of this attraction is inversely as the square of the 
distance ; and there is twenty times as much exertion of the attrac- 
tive power, when no motion is apparent, as there was when, by its 
force, the body \vas plainly seen to move. 

No motion as such, is, of itself, ever obvious to the senses. A sin- 
gle instance will illustrate this principle, as it runs thro all manifestly 
clianging bodies. If the "swinging pendulum of a clock is perceived, 
it is common to say, that its vibrations are seen. It is most certain, 
however, that, in this, or any other instance, the motion is not exhi- 
bited to our senses, as having any separate, independent, or abso- 
lute existence. The only real perception is that of the pendulum 
itself, under the circumstances in w^iich, for the time being, it is 
placed. 

x\ctions are in principle the same, thro all possible modifications 
under which they ever take place. The object of perception can 
be no other than some portion of matter, which may be obviously in 
a state of motion, or in a state of apparent rest ; but a substance in 
the condition of real quiescence does not exist. 

The principles of activity may be effectually exerted, to produce^ 
to continue, or to prevent motion. These modifications of action are 
of very httle importance, as philosophic distinctions, and of none at 
all, in the ordinary employment of language, or of thought. They 
would hardly deserve to be mentioned, if it was not for the perplex- 
ing systems growing out of misconception of their nature. 

Under one or the other of these modifications, action and re-action^ 



VERBS. 77 

reciprocal and equal, pervade the whole creation. This is alike the 
uniform experience of plain men, and the induction from the deep* 
est scientific research. If Newton had not stated the fact that the 
trace rope pulls the horse back, as much as he draws that forward, 
any teamster might try the experiment, by stopping his cart, in as- 
cending a hill. On the supposition that the traces make no resist- 
ance to the horse, he would need no strength to draw the load. But 
in this, as in every other mechanical operation, the force requisite 
to produce the effect, is in exact proportion to the resistance op- 
posed. The seeming preponderance in moving the load does not 
destroy the equality ; it only overcomes the resistance which the 
weight could oppose, and he still ; the equiUbrium is preserved 
thro all changes ; for, by every accumulation of force, to increase 
the rapidity, the resistance is increased, precisely in the same de- 
gree. 

No movement which takes place, is ever perfectly free : because^ 
no substance can be in motion without some obstacle directly op- 
posed, nor without counteracting principles of motivity more or less 
complex. The pebble, thrown from a shng, would continue indefi- 
nitely to go forward in a straight line ; but the air impedes its pro*- 
gress, gravitation diverts it from its course, and the solid wall not 
only stops it, but throws it back. 

Actions, in reference to their operative principles, are never sim- 
ple. Different active influences are exerted, in every portion of 
matter, at every instant of time. The motion of a cannon ball 
thro the air depends, in the first instance, on the irttpulse given by 
the gun powder ? it afterwards remains with the ball itself to conti- 
nue that effect, to a greater or less extent. A ball of lead, of iron^ 
and of cork, successively discharged from the same gun, would go 
to unequal distances, and might produce extremely different conse- 
quences, on the objects exposed to their shock. In the three cases 
supposed, the action commences with the same projectile force, and 
whatever difference afterwards takes place in the momentums of 
the balls, depends on their comparative power to continue their o-wn 
movements. 

So, if a playing ball should be vigorously thrown on a firm plat- 
form, it would re::ound to a considerable distance: but a ball of wax 
would stick fast where it was thrown. The action of throwing is 

7# 



78 VERBS. 

the same in the two cases. They strike the floor nearly alike ; and 
the rebounding of the elastic ball is the exertion o^ 2i principle of ac- 
tivity, in the substance itself, to extendthe effect of the first impulse. 
This co-opevatiiig j^riiiciple ofactivityy the mass of wax does not pos- 
sess. The difference in the results supposed certainly does not de* 
pend on the bare act of ihro-iving, which is in both instances the 
same ; but the compound actions of the hand and the ball, in each 
case. If it depended simply on the act of throwing, performed in 
the same way, then, by every just rule of reasoning, there should be 
no difference of result; for if like causes do not produce like ef- 
fects, then the world has a new philosophy to learn. 

- Action maybe absolute, relative^ or a mixtiire of the two. 

Yv'hen a ship sails from the land, it is said, "The hills gradually 
sink from the sight ;" and the assertion is true, tho the action is 
only a relative one. If two persons are travelling the same way, at 
an unequal rate, one is said to fall behind the other. So in saying 
the sun rises, it is no matter whether that orb really moves upward, 
or the eastern part of the horizon is depressed.* The sun does ac- 
quire an additional elevation above the plane of vision ; and, as to' 
the substantial fact, it is entirely immaterial by what means. In 
language, as following the general principles of thought, the speaker 
seizes upoi^ the direct and obvious presentation, and uses his words 
accordingly. 

With regard to the inverted position of objects, as exhibited ac- 
cording to thliNl^ws of optics, it is only to observe that they are seen 



* To show how fallacious and unprofitable are all disputes on ques- 
tions like this, it is only necessary to observe that the ideas of up 
and down, high and lotv, with others of the kind, are mere relations, 
and have no absolute existence. '1 he futility of the objection that 
the sun, in point of fact, does not rise, becomes more striking, on re- 
curring to the acknowledged law of optics, that all objects within 
the scope of vision are seen inverted, and that it is only by familiar 
observation, that this illusion of the sense is corrected. If the scales 
are balanced with a pound weight in each, then taking the weight 
out of one side, or putting an additional pound into the other, vvill, 
as a plain matter of fact, produce the same result, that is, one scale 
rises while the other sinks: , and every mathematician knows that, in 
a comparison of two algebraic quantities, a plus or a minus number, 
on either side, will equally vary the difference. 



VERBS. 79 

in their proper relations to each other, and if there is in the first in= 
stance any illusion in the view of these objects, it is corrected by 
early habi-i:. The modern improvements in the science of astrono- 
my create no necessity for new phraseology in speaking of the same 
motions. The sun continues to rise and set, and the tables of Dr. 
Maskahne and others, with the present knowledge of the solar sys- 
tem, are governed by the same laws of language and thought that 
formerly prevailed. 

On the same principle that we contemplate in numerous instances 
mere relative things, we also witness actions under a prodigious 
variety of modifications, in reference to different agents, jiieans, and 
objects, Tlie words cause, instmment, and effect, are themselves 
mere relative terms ; and it is so with a large portion of the words 
employed in speaking cf actions. All the mechanic powers are 
merely such by the offices which they actively perform. It is not as 
a bar of iron or wood that an article can be called a lever; but only 
by application to its appropriate use. The same holds good of the 
wedge, the -wheel, pulley, and screxo ; and thro the whole range of 
nature, or of rational conception, power inert is a contradiction in 
fact, and no power at all. 

So far as scientific research extends, action is the exertion of some 
operative principle to produce change, and motion is the effec- 
tive* operation of such principle in the real alteration of some por- 
tion of matter. 

The attempted distinctions between things animate and inanimate, 
in motion or apparently at rest, in reference to any differential prin- 
ciple of action, or of expression, appear to be altogether unfounded 
and impracticable, in every point of view in wliich they can be con- 
sidered. 

Time, in its simple principle, is the set of relations which things 
bear to each other, in the successive order of their movements. In 



* It is not intended by this explanation to say that any causal prin- 
cfple is ever exerted without instrumental activity, and real motion : 
but the bodies moved, interchanged, or transfused, are often too sub- 
tile for observation. When the magnet draws iron, we do not see 
any cords, but there may be machinery, as well as completely organ- 
ized animals, beyond the powers of human sight : but a farther exa- 
mination of this subject is not necessary to the present attempt. 



80 VERBS. 

its practical application, it is the computation of periodical changes, 
in bodivis wtiuse movements are most regular or best understood. 

Manner of action is either the mind, intention, orpian by which 
an action is directed, or the means or instrumentality with which it 
is performed ; or the effect w^hich it produces on an object ; inas- 
much as all possible modifications of action, i»nd all which the mind 
can ever contemplate concerning them, must be divided between 
the three. The explanation in detail of these principles of action, 
in their relation to language, belongs more properly to an after part 
of this work. 

We come next to conside/these laws of action, as they flow into 
the habits of thought and the forms of verbal expression ; and here, 
it will be recollected that the leading position to be borne in mind, 
throughout this work, is that there is no important rule in any lan- 
guage, which has not its foundation in some established principle, in 
the mind of man, and the nature of things. To say that speech de- 
pends chiefly on capricious custom, and attempt to explain it by 
rules primai'ily deduced from the beginnings, endings, or collocation 
of words, is to describe the temple by its finishing ornaments, in- 
stead of the proper drawing of its plan and elevation. 

The verb is the part of speech, without which no sentence can 
be formed, and on whicii other terms, in construction, mainly de- 
pend. Any system which misinterprets this essential class of words 
must, in its chief remaining parts, necessarily be wrong. 

In reference to any phdosophic or grammatical principle, capable 
of being understood or applied, m theory or practice, all verbs, iii 
in all languages, are precisely of one kind, with the single miracu. 
lous exception of the burning bush.* This proposition will seem 
very extravagant to a very large majority of readers, who, en this 
subject, are accustomed tamely to follow authoritative opinions, in- 
stead of employing their reasoning powers. It becomes necessary 



* The observations which follow, respecting the transitive action 
expressed by every verb, it will be perceived, are not addressed to 
mert learners ; but to able teachers and others, who can investigate 
the principles submitted, and take a more comprehensive and phi- 
losophic view of their application than could be formally given in 
the course of ordinary school lessons. If learning is worth learning, 
it should be learned accovdmg to rational principles, founded in 
truth, and addressed to the understanding. 



VERBS. 81 

then to examine, somewhat in detail, the principles on which this^ 
proposition depends. 

It is the received opinion, among writers on language, that there 
are three or more kinds of verbs essentially differing from each 
other. This is considered the predominating, and most extensive 
principle of speech. It is truly and eminently so, if the doctrine is 
founded in fact. 

No one, for slight reasons, should presume to question a rule so 
excedingly important, as it runs thro the whole system of lan- 
guage and of instruction, and which has received the general as- 
sent of the great leaders in talent and learning hitherto known. 
Strong arguments, however, present themselves in favor of a differ- 
ent theory ; and such theory, if it should prove just, will not only 
have the intrinsic merit of truth, but will be found far more simple 
and useful, in all its practical applications. 

The three sorts of verbs, according to the most distinguished ex- 
pounders of language, are, 

1. Active or transitive^ Implying an a^ent^ an action, and an object 
acted upon ; as I love Penelope. 

2. Passive, signifying the suffering" or receiving the effect of an 
action ; as, " To be loved ,•" " Penelope is loved by 7ne." 

3. JS^euter, which express "neither action, noi passion, but being, 
or a state of being ; as, I am, I sleep, I sit,*' 

Some writers make four or more kinds, with different names ; 
but the variance is of no Importance : the objection is alike to all. 
In all, the attempted division does not depend on any philosophic 
principle whatever; but results wholly from misconception or mere 
accident. 

1. Active or transitive verbs. This class presents, in many in- 
stances, the greatest apparent contradictions, and is, of all the kinds, 
the most difficult to reconcile witiithe very principles laid down to 
explain it. 

" Bonaparte lost the battle of Waterloo.'* 

This sentence, according to all the teachers, is the direct and 



82 VERBS. 

literal assertion that Bonaparte performed the action of losing that 
battle. How stands the fact ? Until after the battle was irretrieva- 
bly lost, he exerted his utmost energy of body and mind to -win the 
battle and prevent the loss. He never did the least act with inten- 
tion to produce such a result, but skilfully strove, with all his ta- 
lents and means, to guard against it. How then did he perform the 
action which the sentence directly affirms? 

If it was proper to say that a verb is neuter, because, in some in- 
stances, it does not denote movementy directly obvious to our senses, 
there would be a double objection to manifest activity, exerted in 
opposhion to what the affirmation asserts. No philosophy like this 
has, in either case, any bearing on the question. 

The verb lost, as above quoted, and most others, depend on dif- 
ferent principles from any which have probably been explained} 
from the days of Aristotle and Ennius to the present time. 

Some radical errors of a similar nature, appear to run through 
the general systems of grammar, rhetoric, logic, and mental philoso- 
phy, in all countries where these studies are pursued. The propo- 
sitions laid down as axioms in the structure of speech, being grossly 
wrong, the complex systems founded upon them, of course, could 
not be right. 

With respect to the agent which produces an action, it is no mat- 
ter by what motive, fatality, inherent principle, or communicated iwz- 
pulse, it may operate ; what name it bears ; how inert it may ap- 
pear; nor what secondary means it may employ. These moving 
springs of action are precisely as numerous, convolved, and minute, 
as the train of causes and consequences throughout the Creator's 
works. The short sighted philosophy which attempts to draw di- 
vision lines between them, leads to endlesi perplexity, without any 
beneficial result ; and has misdirected the systems of instruction in 
language, ever since a college existed in Europe. 

Sir Christopher Wrea erected St. Paul's Church in thirty -sevea 
years. 

Solomon built the temple. 

It is not necessary to the correctness of this assertion that he 



VERBS. 83 

should have raised a gavel or hammer on the building, or any of its 
materials, or even made a line on the trestle board. He did some- 
thing, or caused it to be performed, which, but for him, would have 
remained undone, or not done in the same way. The least possible 
difference is that it must have been independent of him as an effec- 
tive cause. 

The g-eese, by their gabbling, saved Rome from destruction. 

They performed an action which, in its train of consequences, 
waked the soldiers, roused them to arms ; led them to battle ; 
slaughtered many of the Gauls, and drove the rest from the city. 

Mr. Smith o^ Boston raises a large crop on his farm in New- 
Hampshire. The King of England made a treaty in Pekin. The 
aduural sunk Jive q^ the enemy's ships. The Emperor of Russia 
builds forts on the North West coast of America. 

David did not touch Goliah when he killed him. He threw a 
stone with a sling, and that stone produced a -wound which caused 
his death. The succession of intermediate causes, whether explain- 
ed in grammar books or not, must be recognized in most mdict- 
ments for murder, or, by well established rules of la\v, the manslay- 
er would be cleared. 

The infant, in America, inherits a farm in England. 

How does he perform that action 9 He, as a cause, gives to the 
chain of legal title, a different direction from what it would other- 
wise take, and prevents an other person from holdirig the farm as right- 
ful owner. 

How does the miser perform the transitive action of leaving his 
gold ? By the action of dying. 

The pier supports the bridge. 

The roof .shelters the famdy. 

The walls enclose them. 

"Windows admit light and exclude cold. 

Chains and fetters bind the man. 

The cord susturns the weight. 

Strong boilers hold steam. 

The ague fit shakes tiie person. 

The falling beam killed the -workmen. 



84 VERBS. 

Hot Iron burns the Jln^ers, 

"Neuter verbs express a state of being. ^* 

John lost his money, while he was asleep. 
How did John perform this transitive action of losing his money ? 
A thief did it for him, by stealing \i\s jmrse. 

The next class of verbs, as explained in the systems of instruc- 
tion, are those called neuter^ implying neither action nor passion ; 
but being, or a state of being ; as, I am, I sleep ^ I sit, Cesar stood. 

The objections which have been or can be offered against the 
activity of four thousand English verbs, appear, when brought down 
to their specific statement, to be reduced to three. It may be far- 
ther observed, that these objections all depend chiefly on a common 
principle. 

1. The subjects of the verbal affirmations are inanimate matter, 
and therefore can not act. 

2. The ideas denoted by the verbs do not amount to action, per- 
ceivable, real, or fairly implied. 

3. The verbs have no recipient objects, expressed, or necessarily 
understood, and are not capable of being explained, as signifying 
any resulting effects. 

The fallacy of the above propositions and the theory founded 
upon them, with their consequent errors in practice, it is hoped 
may be satisfactorily explained. The causes of these errors are in- 
attention, either to the definite meaning of terms; to the science of 
physical and intellectual nature, as connected with speech; or, to 
thef proper application of words to things, in the special case. 

Instead of beginning with disputes growing out of the casual 
©mission or expression of objective words, it is proper to come at 
once to those principles, on which, according to the laws of matter 
and mind, all verbal affirmations depend. These affirmations de- 
note, not merely implied^ but always real action, in every form of 
their utterance. For something, to do something, with something, 
to something; or, cause, means, action, and effect is the rule in the 
wse of every verb. It is the Creator's rule, which maw may mis- 
conceive, but can not change ; and is alike extensive, simple, and 
su-blime. 



VERBS. 85 

The strong arguments of the Schools seem directed chiefly 
against the activity of the verbs to be and to live: but how fallacious 
is the objection, that man has no independent power to sustain and 
preserve himself in life, and that, at every moment, he relie?on his 
God to enable him to live. It vs^as, of course, only by the same Di- 
vine sustenance, that Moses wrought all the wonders in Egypt ; led 
the Israelites through the Red Sea ; smote the rock, and drew forth 
a refreshing stream, in the parching desert. Without the same up- 
holding aid, how is any action of man to be performed, at any pe- 
riod of his being ? So far as language, or any distinguishable prin- 
ciple of philosophy, is concerned, man supports^ upholds^ and con- 
tinues^ himself in life, by his own free will, as much as he quenches 
his thirst with a drink of water. The rule which would refer the 
verbs be and livey to the direct agency of the Creator, would also 
make the name of the living God the agent of every verb, in all 
tongues, which dependent beings could frame. 

It is no way inconsistent, in philosophy, language, or fact, to say, 
either ** The storm destroyed the armada," or that it was "He who 
rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm ;" nor in saying the 
lightning strikes the tower, do we contradict, in the least degree, 
the all-including thought, that the power, and the immediate provi- 
dence of God, directs the bolt. 

Language applies to all agents, and all objects, on one common 
principle; for the plain reason that it could not be applied on any 
otliCr. 

A beaver, a clam, and a log, as well as the man, are, in the struc- 
ture of speech, considered independent, self acting, and self sus- 
tained; holding their several places and relations, as links in the 
boundless chain; each, according to its nature, preserving the orga- 
nization, and consistency of its parts ; exercising its proper qualities 
and functions ; and producing such effects on surrounding objects, as 
belong to its absolute and relative power to act. 

The log, unobstructed by its blocking, rolls itself on the man, and 
crushes hi?n to de^ith. The *' thin ai/re,'^ invisible, impalpable, and 
the most unsubstantial portion of matter, yet tolerably known to 
science, converts itself into the hxirvicsine, prostrates the forest, and 
spreads destruction in its course. The same thin air, confined in the 
deep recesses of the earth, by causes beyond the reach of human 
ken, rocks kingdoms, heaves up new islands through the sea, shakes 

8 



86 VERBS. 

down the time tried -ivalls^ and sinks the frightened tenants of the 
palace and the dungeon, in one common grave. 

Preparations of phosphor, sulphuric acid, and potash, brought in 
contact, under water, set themselves on fire, and burm till one or all 
are consumed. With the million forms of commotion, constantly 
taking place, in all the constituents of the material world, shall we 
stili continue to leai'u as a rule of speech, the absurd lesson that 
tnatter can neither cause an action, nor produce any effect ? The 
lump of gold which still keeps its place at the bottom of the mine, 
retains at least its cohesion^ gravitation^ and repulsion, if it could 
exert its action in no other way ; and the cubic foot of matter which 
occupies the center of the globe has its proportional influence on the 
circumvolving spheres. Could we suppose such mass destitute of 
all possible tendency to move, it would then j&055tfss what the colleges 
have happily named " vis ineriice," or the power to lie still. 

It is impossible for the imagination to conceive any thing, even in 
the grammatical creation, more inanimate than a " neuter verb y" yet 
this illusive representative of quiescence, positively, actively, and 
trar.sltively, ** expresses being, or a state of being. ^^ The passive verb, 
too, the next tame thing in the verbal world, includes a transitive ac- 
tion ^ with its governed object, in every attempt to define it. What 
other verbal subject, or nominative ivord, then, can possibly typify a 
thing too dead to act ? 

WMien we say of the Deity, *' He toas, and is, and is t9 be,** we ex- 
press more and higher actioji, than in affirming that he created, and 
constantly upholds, a myriad of -worlds. The first expression sig7ii- 
feSi that the Divine Being sustai?is himself, in the unchanging per 
fection of all excellence, through an eternal round of ages. This is 
by far the loftier action of the two ; inasmuch as the potter is more 
than the clay, and the Sovereign Lord high over all the works he 
has made. 

So, in saying, ** The man is alive,'' we imply, according to the 
plain import of the word is, he sustains and preserves himself alive ; 
he inspires, continues, vivifies, inspirits, and upholds, himself, with all 
the requisites, and in the exercise of all the functions, essential to 
vitality. In order to be, as this verb asserts, he must, by continual 
alternations, inhale and respire the air ; inflate his lungs, and by their 
instrumentality, impart oxygen to chyle and blood: he must eat and 



VERBS. 87 

drinJCf sleep and -wake, feel sensatiom of pleasure and pain, perceive 
external objects, and exert himself in various ways : he must repeat 
the pulsationt of his heart, through the numerous arteries and veins; 
and maintain all his complex vital organs in their proper tone of ac- 
tion. It is for the physiologist to say, whether the human machine, 
of frame work, cords, pivots, tubes, valves, cylinders, and retorts, 
can retain its own vitalitt/, without performing^ at each instant, ten 
thousand actions, beyond what the microscope can display^ or the 
united skill of the philosopher, chemist, engineer, and optician cnu 
explain. 

So far as verbal affirmations have any concern with the ac:ic?i of 
livings it is not of the least importance whether its complex move- 
ments are regulated by consciousness and will, or by the necessary 
constitution of the corporeal frame. The continual performance of 
these actions is one indispensable condition, by which the living 
" tenant at will,*' must " have, hold, possess, and enjoy ^^ his being on 
earth. 

It is far more absurd to deny the high action of living, because, 
from habit, it is, in part, unconsciously performed^ than to re-assert 
the exploded belief, that the earth has no motion, because its rapid 
progress is not felt. 

When it is asserted *'The man is dead," we still mean, the boJy 
retains its personal identity, and its corporeal organization : it occu- 
pies a place in the Creator's works, which, but for this monitory rem- 
nunt of himanity, -would be replacedby some other portion of matter ; 
for even the monastic schools, whether they knew what they meant 
or not, said that " JVature abhors vacuity," 

The dead body at the least which, as matter, it can do, retains its 
corpuscular attraction, and causes a different disposition of surround- 
ing substances from what would otherwise take place. This orga- 
nized mass continues to be the dead man, so long as a predominant 
portion remains to which personal identity can be affixed : and when 
the crumbling dust mijigles itself with its kindred earth, it can ric 
longer be said the dead man is ; but only that he ivas : ** Fuit Ilium,^^ 
Troy is no more. 

This application of words, in their endless use, by one plain rule, 
to all things which nouns can nam^i, instead of being the fit subject 
of cavil, is the most sublime theme presented to the intellect on 



S8 ' VERBS. 

earth. It is the practical intercourse of tlie soul, at once with its 
God, and with all parts of his works. 

*' An undevout astronomer is mad," is the sentiment which even 
a partial and mistaken view of the heavenly orhs has often extorted 
from pagan lips. If such aspirations arise, in contemplating the 
world of matter, what Avould the same man feel, could he trace its 
connection with the brighter world of mind, and justly contemplate 
that WISDOM v/hich, beyond the comet's track, or the astrono- 
mer's thought, pervades the whole. 

The declaration, " I can do all things through the Deity strength- 
ening me," is the universal proposition, in language as well as reli- 
gion. " By him, ive livcy movey and have our being.'* For the plain- 
est reason, such qualification applies to every actioti which depen- 
dent creatures could assert, or the mind conceive. It would be pre- 
posterous to impute independent agency to all other operations, and 
deny it to the highest of all, without which no other can take place. 

It has been the misfortune of this branch of science, to misemploy 
the rich treasures of learning, in superficial and endless disputes, 
concerning forms of words, instead of ascertaining those laws in 
liie physical and mental creation whicii govern all forms. The phi- 
losophy of the dark ages has strangely misinterpreted the simple, 
beautiful, and limitless rule of speech, which ascribes verbal actions, 
on a common principle, to all thiirgs ; from the unchanging AM, 
down the countless gradations of being in the amazing system of 
his works. 

The archangely or the inseciy lives a dependent life : a hero, a ciii/i 
or a pebble, si7iks : The Eternal is ; and the same is affirmed of each 
particle of dust, through all the worlds he has made: for, between 
which two links, in the inconceivable chain, of spirits, men, and 
2ni?ior things, could speech makers on earth draw the division line.^ 

Let the believer in the doctrine of unacting subjects turn frorn the 
lessening degrees of animal being, to the vegetable productions 
around him. Here he sees each tree and plant, "from the cedai? 
of Lebanon, to the hysop on the wall," sprouting its germ ; shooting 
its stock; draxving ?iii/m«e7i^ from the earth and the air; puttings 
forth leaves and ftoivers \ and maturing its fruit. The shamrocks 



VERBS. 89 

mistleto, and Iceland moss, propagate themselves^ with all their dis- 
tinctive qualities, through the whole range of time. 

In the mineral kingdom we find each mountain and hill, decompose 
ing and re-indurating its rocks ; corroding and 2^^2\n forming metahi 
each acid combining itself with its kindred base, in crystals assuming 
their appropriate /orm^ .• every portion of the solid ^\ohc producirig 
its manifold actions, and those actions their effects. 

These principles, it will be seen, do not depend on vague meta- 
physical deductions. The man of science, who chooses to scruti- 
nize, rather than trust, wilFfind the whole field of nature, the stores 
of learning, and the conscious record of his own intellect, full of con- 
verging proofs to establish their truth. 

If there was any word answering the description of a neuter verh^ 
it certainly could not be used in the imperative mood ; for it would 
be the height of folly to exhort a man to ttand firm, rise up, sit 
down, or be what he is not, if no action was ever signijied, -under- 
stoodyOr complied -with, by the expression. A little girl, in play, may 
use these commands to her doll, as the representative of a being who- 
can -will and act : but children know that the imperatives of miscalled 
neuter verbs demand both volition and change; for one boy habitually 
says to an other, " Be there quick :" ** Stand out of my way," " Sii 
or lie farther ;" expecting him to act, according to the request : but 
no boy of common sense would soberly use the same address, to a. 
bar post, chair, or billet of wood. 

Again, no neuter verb, if such a word was created, could ever 
form a past participle, which, in every possible case, denotes the re- 
sulting effect of action or change. If the verb go had no object, no- 
thing could ever hegorie. The thing which one moves, or that moves 
itself, till it ceases to move, is then moved. 

It is no objection to this stateraent, that some actions take place 
with a fixed point of completion, and others in successive degrees. 
The ship is lanched, when the lanching is done. The flag may be 
lo-ivered, by every gradation, from the topmast head to the deck. 

An other strong absurdity is connected with the doctrine of neuter 
verbs. These words all take the " auxiliaries** before them, with 
all the motives, the conditions, and obligations of action. How car* 
a man promise to be what he is not, if to be has no connection witii 

8# 



90 VERBS. 

his own power to will or act P And how absurd to say, a man ou^hi 
to do, can do, must, and shall do, and be punished if he does not dOf 
that which is doing" nothing at all. 

That we may not be entirely ignorant what a neuter or intransi- 
tive verb is, one sublime example is given, in Exod. III.; and it is 
believed that all the stores of human learning can produce no other. 
This example is the miracle which Moses beheld in a flame of fire 
out of the midst of the bush. The astonished lawgiver, deep skilled 
in all the philosophy which scientific Egypt taught, saw the laws of 
nature overruled by the Author of Nature. " He looked, and be- 
hold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.^' 

Well might the wondering naturalist cry out, " I will now turn 
aside, to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned ;" for, from 
the beginning- to the end of the world, the leader of the Hebrews 
must doubtless remain the only man of whom it can be truly said, 
" He looked, and behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush 
was not'consumed ;'' or whojs ever to see any other action take place, 
without affecting* its object, according to those unerring laws which 
Divine Wisdom has ordained. 

Having attempted to show that great errors prevail in the existing 
systems of inculcation in language, it may seem proper to develop, 
if possible, the causes by which so many celebrated writers have 
been misled. 

Those who, during many centuries in succession, devoted their 
lives to this study, were, in too great a degree, mere linguists, and 
not persons of accurate scientific pursuits. The m.ost distinguished, 
with few exceptions, confined their attention to language as a kind 
of exclusive theme, and not as necessarily connected with every 
other department of human knowledge. Even as philologists, they 
did not rise on one hand to the strong, crude models of early ex- 
pression, nor on the other to the skill in science, which would have 
explained its practical adaptation. Oa the middle ground between 
the two, men expert in the inflections of words reasoned in a circle, 
adopting, as first principles, their own views of speech, in its scho- 
lastic forms, instead of attempting the analysis of its primeval cast. 
They learnedly expatiated on declension, mood, and tense, accord- 
ing to their unguided fancy. They exhibited the expanding con- 
jugations of Greek and Latin verbs, through all their varying forms ; 
but these plants in bloom were not traced back to their germ ; nor 
forward to their ripened fruit and reproduction. 



VERBS. 91 

In this limited way of examination, words were found in use, ap- 
plied to thing's which, according* to the philosophy of these expound- 
ers, did not act; and hence they adopted the strange theory of new 
ter and passive verbs ; a mistake which either the simplicity of an- 
cient times, or the real science of the present, would at once have 
set right. 

In such modes of hypothesis, and such wretched systems of expo- 
sition, too many lives have already been spent; and false principles, 
authorized by imposing universities, and royal academies, ought no 
longer to be received, from age to age, on trust. 

Instead of theorizing upon the dress of language, in its classic fin- 
ishing, let us take a new view of its primitive state, and see how 
different it will appear. 

Proofs drawn from different tongues, in their earliest written 
forms, are referred to an uther^vork. A few hints will here be of- 
fered, as directly presented by plain sense. 

All verbs must have been originally used to denote visible ac- 
tivity, and generally in its highest forms of manifestation. It was 
not the post or tree, sustaining' itself in an erect posture, which gave 
rise to the verb stand; nor were other verbs first applied to appa- 
rently motionless things. They all had their origin in obvious ac- 
tions ; and in the progress of language, extended their meaning, 
through lessening degrees of analogous appearance. In this uncon- 
scious manner, the nations of unlettered men, so adapted their lan- 
guage to philosopliic truth, that all physical and intellectual research 
can find no essential rule to reject or change. What the simple 
fathers of mankind did, from first impulse, was exactly accordant 
with those laws of nature which industrious genius may admire, but 
can never fully explore. 

Having, in some degree, examined these principles as they exist 
in nature, we may precede to trace them, in their extension to 
thought, and to practice in language. 

I. With regard to those verbs which are supposed not to denote 
action, but ^to be used for the distinctive purpose of expressing 
** state or condition of being,** 

It is well known without the helpless aid of neuter verbs, that 



92 VERBS* 

every thing which has being'^ must have that being in sonrie condi- 
tion or state : and the onlj way in which the mind can contemplate 
the ttate or condition of any being, is either in reference to its own 
changes, which are action, or in its relatiom to other things, which 
are description, and expressed by adjectives ; for there can be no 
such thing as absolute conditio?! or state; these terms themselves 
contradict such a supposition ; nor can words be employed to re- 
present those ideas, except as mere relations : consequently, it does 
not belong to a verb to express a difference between one state of 
being and an other. 

Every expression to be used for any valid purpose, must convey 
some distinctive idea, some information which the hearer does not 
know, independent of such assertion. It must not mean every 
thing, nor all states of being, because that would be, in other words, 
to mean nothing at all. To communicate any useful intelligence it 
must communicate some fact, no matter whether in the form of as- 
sertion or inquiry ; and certainly every one who knows what fact 
means, knows that it must include action, or it would not be fact : 
and this position is not taken barely in reference to the unavoidable 
meaning of the word, but also in regard to any principle of logic 
which can be applied to the case. 

Again, every thing which acts, must be in some state or condition 
of being while it acts ; and this proposition, which is evident with- 
out the use of nugatory verbs, holds equally true of all agents or 
subjects concerning which any affirmation can be made. 'The only 
valid reason for setting apart a set of verbs, under the name of neu- 
ter, is by showing that they perform some office which other verbs 
do not. 

The ship rides at anchor. 
The ship lies at anchor. 
The cable holds the ship. 
John saws wood. 
The mill grinds the corn. 

The first two of these verbs are said to be neuter, and to be used 
merely to show the state of being in which a subject is placed. It 
certainly, however, is not the verb rides, which, of itself, tells us 
whether the ship is on the water, or the ridge of a house ; in the 
air, on horseback, or in a coach. Any distinction of this kind must 
be known, by the nature of a ship and its relation to an anchor. 



VERBS. 93 

The man sits in his chair. 
He keeps his seat, very quietly. 
He keeps himself quieily seated. 
He is sea^e J quietly in his chair. 

What diflTerence is there in the man's condition of being in these 
four instances, including- the active, passive and neuter verb, with 
the self action, and the action passing" over to an object : and, if there 
is no difference, then how is this supposed neuter verb, more than 
any verb, used merely to express the state of being ? 

So in the expression " the cable holds the sJdp," tho the trann- 
tlve action, in the imaginary grammatical distinction, yet the neces- 
sary state of being is as well expressed here, as in the other exam- 
ples : that is, the cable is attached to the ship, at one end, and to 
the anchor, or some other fastening", at the other. 

The man sa-wa wood. 

In this example, better than in either of the others, the " state of 
being*' is very exactly understood; for the relations of the actor^ 
instrument, and object, are necessary and familiar. 

Let us take an other instance of the same agent, and the same 
verb, and see if any difference is made in either, to express all the 
differences between one " state of being" and an other ; or whether 
this difference, as to every expression of it, and every thing which 
the miiid contemplates respecting it, is made entirely by adjectives, 

A prince is born. 
He is sleeping in his cradle. 
He \s playing in the nursery. 
He is very sick. 
He is perfectly recovered. 
He is taking a walk. 
He is riding in the park. 
He \s fighting the enemy. 
He is sitting on his throne. 
He is laid up ivith sickness. 
He \s prostrate on his couch. 
He is boived down -with age. 
He is dead and buried. 
He \s forgotten on earth. 



94 VERBS. 

This verb is, certainly, can not be habitually used for a purpose 
which it never, in any case, performs ; and nothing' is clearer than 
that this verb, applying, -without change^ to all conditions of being, 
indicates no one distinctively ; and, therefore, that this can not 
be its essential office in language. 

Much is said, by learned writers, respecting general and abstract 
terms ; of the arbitrary, conventional, and artificial natere of speech. 
"VVe are wisely told that "custom in language governs every thing/* 
This is such verbiage as men accustom themselves to employ, when 
not aware of the import of their own terms. Custom does not go- 
vern those who make custom, any more than the cut, make, fashion^ 
habit, costume, or form of dress governs the fashionables, and their 
tailors, who direct \h.Qse fashions or makings, at their will. 

This custom, in language, so much talked about, and so little un- 
derstood, is like the Grecian philosopher's metaphoric cob- web. 
It catches small flies ; but if the large ones did not break thro it, 
the custom would never change. 

Language is conventional only in its slighter modifications ; no 
iconvention can change its elementary laws. People did not. In 
early times, call a town meeting, and agree to employ certain words 
to denote certain specific ideas. They had the words first, or 
they could not have passed their vote. 

To avoid a vast extent of bewildering technicality on this subject, 
it is proper to begin by asking ourselves a plain question of common 
aense, and trying to remember the answer which plain sense readily 
affords. 

By what conventional rule can men form signs, vrndi make them 
practically ^f?^7«^can/, without any characteristic thing for them to 
signify} 

Every verb is employed to denote some obviously distinctive fact, 
without which, the assertion would be nugatory. Such fact has a 
necessary connection with some material instrumentality, or means 
of action ; not an abstract, artificial, inconceivable^ neuter, something, 
any thing, every thing, and nothing ; but a standard substantial ob^ 
ject, tangible by the organs of perception. Without such distinct 
tive man^estation, the idea could not ^xist, nor the xvordhQ wanted. 



VERBS. 95 

It could neither acquire an origin, nor, by any possibility, be under- 
stood : and, if a verb should cease to denote a matter of fact per- 
ception, it would cease to convey any meaning ; for the expression 
of action is the clittinctive, exclusive, and only office which a verb can 
peiform. 

The man lives. 

This expression either means nothing, or, according to its only 
practical use, it asserts a fact which the speaker does know, and 
the hearer does not. If the speaker knows the fact, he knows it, 
of course, by some means of knowledge; some sensible indication, 
or real action, which this man must perform, in order to manifest the 
fact that he lives. The action which a living man performs, to show 
that he lives, is necessarily expressed by this assertion, however 
stupidly the speaker himself, misled by an absurd theory, may talk 
about his supposed neuter verbs. 

In all ages, these laws of action and thought have formed the ba- 
sis of every language ; and, if it should be asserted that words, in 
their modern use, have acquired a conventional acceptation, inde- 
pendent of these principles, and contrary to them, it remains to 
inquire of such theorists, how -words came to be employed to denote 
ideas which cannot possibly exist ; or when, and by what means, 
the technical rules of grammar obtained the ascendancy over those 
laws of nature, which unerring Wisdom has ordained ? 

At every patriarchal home, it was, of course, seen that adult per- 
sons could support themselves in an erect posture, and the infants 
could not ; that the revered parent, at one time, stood firm, sur- 
rounded by the family circle, and at an other, lay prostrate on a 
bed of sickness, while they were anxiously bending over him; for 
these things are common to human life : one man was seen to stand 
faithfully by his friend, or stedfastly at his post, in the hour of dan- 
ger, while an other fainted with fear, or basely deserted, to extri- 
cate himself from the peril : an other stood in a slippery place, 
where his companion was seen to fall; all thcvse, and a thousand 
others, were instances of manifest action ; and a word to express it 
became of important use. 



96 VERBS. 

When the verb stand was estabhshed to denote what the man 
did, from united volition, energy, and skill, it was easily extended to 
the post and tree, sustaining themselves in the same position, with- 
out stopping to inquire by what unknown cause their action was 
performed. In this extension, the continuity remains unbroken, 
and the application just ; for where obvious movement ceases, ac- 
tion on scientific principles always exists ; and so inevitable is this 
rule, in its adaptation to things, that not only no neuter verb ever 
was employed, but it is beyond all human power to form one, to 
give it either meaning or use. 

If the " •wonderful acliviti/'' of the rope dancer, who stands on 
his head, upon a swinging cord, at an elevation of fifteen feet in the 
air, is no action, then what is action ? and who shall dare to name 
the feats of the mountebank, in comparison with what the oakf by 
Divine Wisdom, performs in standing, and renewing its verdure, for 
ages, against all the tempests which howl around it ? 

Concerning the objects of verbs, the errors in grammatical incul- 
cation appear to be of a remarkable cast. 

The few specimens which follow will give some idea of the reel- 
procity of verbal actors^ actioiiSy and objects, I'hese examples are 
clumsy indeed ; but not therefore the less instructive. It belongs 
to the art of an able writer to conceal this structure, and obviate ks 
monotony, or alliteration. The enlightened linguist, on the contra- 
ry, instead of being deceived by this disguise, should muke it a 
most efficient instrument in the elucidation of his principles; for it 
^should not be forgotten, that, in the construction of language, the 
first process is the formation of single words, with definite meanings, 
and not the practice of elegant brevity in their combinations. 

- A very large class of verbal objects are the produc- 
tions^ or effects^ resulting from actions. Many others 
denote the performance itself, taken as a circumstance^ 
fact, or thing-. 





VERBS. 




-^geatt 


Verb, 


Object, 


Builders 


build 


buildings. 


Pinmakers 


make 


pins. 


Dreamers 


dream 


dreams. 


Laugkeri 


laugh 


laughter or laugh. 


Singers 


sing 


singing, or songs. 


Breathers 


breathe 


breathing, breatli. 


Speakers 


speak or make 


speeches. 


Actors 


act or perform 


actions or parts. 


Sleepers 


sleep 


sleep, or naps. 


Drinkers 


drink 


drink. 


Walkers 


walk or take 


walks. 


Producers 


produce 


products or results. 


Workers 


work or execute 


work. 


Sitters 


sit, or hold 


sittings or sessions. 


Profligate livers 


live 


profligate lives. 


The dying 


die or encounter 


dying or death. 


Pleaders 


plead or make 


pleadings or pleas. 


A coiner 


coins 


coin. 


Sufferers 


suffer 


sufferings. 


A player 


plays 


plays. 


Thinkers 


think or employ 


thoughts. 


A person 


personates 


a personage. 


Casters 


cast 


casts or castings. 


Fishers 


fish or catch 


fish. 


Twisters 


twist 


twists. 


An equal 


equals 


an equal. 


Light 


lights or sheds 


light. 


The glow 


glows or^ diffuses 


a glowing or glow. 


The taste 


tastes 


the taste. 


The feeling 


feels 


the feehng. 


Rain 


rains 


rain 


Frost 


frosts or freezes 


frost. 


The sight 


sees 


the sight. 



All languages are full of this construction. The veil which cov- 
ers it is more thin than would be at first supposed. This tabular 
explanation will strve. to explain it, instead of explaining any oth- 
er explanation which can be explained respecting it. The student 
has onlf to study the study of nature, around him and within him, 

9 



93 yERBS, 

to know the knowledge of those principles which chiefl/ govern 
all human speech. 

The next mystery, in verbal objects, appears to be the extensive 
«j!a83 of self actions, commonly included under the name of reflec- 
ted verbs. These imply actions which recur upon the agents, or 
in which the actor does something to himself. 

An other set of verbs called reciprocal, denote actions in which 
iwo or more agents act on each other. 

None of these distinctions amount to any real diflference in the 
character of verbs, which are substantially alike. No rational divi- 
sion line can be drawn between them. 

Dr. Sangrado often bled h\^ patients^ and occasionally bled him- 
idf: he sometimes opened their veins, and sometimes hit own» 

Tlie doctor, in both cases, performed the operation of bleeding, 
with the same lancet, in the same way. Whether he opened his 
own, or his patients' veins, appears not to vary the nature of the 
action, or the character of the verb, any more than the difference 
between bleeding the same person in the arm, or the foot. 

After attempting to show that all verbs are active; that they all 
denoted, in their origin, manifest action; in what manner they act; 
and what that action produces; it remains to ihinh some farther 
brief thoughts, concerning the nature of verbal objects. 

" To Sleep," 

The action signified by this verb always affects two objects at 
the »ame time; and both are inevitably understood as the objects of 
the verb, whether either is expressed or not. 

The noun deeping is the name of the act which the verb denotes, 
■m, "His sleeping was quiet:'' " They were kept from sleeping.** 

°rhe noun sleep is the resulting effect of the action of sleeping, 
cir the thing which sleeping produces, as breath is only what is breath- 
ed. The way to have, get, or take sleep, is to sleep it. 



m 



VERBS. 99 

"The stout hearted have slept their sleep.*' "They ahsAl sleep a 
perpetual fleep and shall not awake,*' means that they *' shail sleep 
the sleep of death/' or, " Sleep the long sleep,** and not merely sleep 
a short nap, or sleep the ordinary sleep of the night. 

That the noun sleep is always the object of the verb sleepy is, oa 
tlie clearest principles of philosophic demonstration, as certain as 
that yery simply proving must afford very simple proof, or bletd- 
ing produce blood. 

Sleeping also, as a self action, infallibly producci its effect on th« 
sleeper as its object. 

This action, like most others performed by man, depends partly 
OH necessity, and partly on reason and choice. 

"For this cause many sleep:" 1 Cor. xi. 30. 

** I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, \\n^ 
til I have found out a place for the Lord." — Ps, ** Awake thou thai: 
sleepest, and arise." 

Every human being, at short intervals, resorts to ** tired Nature's 
sweet restorer, balmy sleep;" to sleep hitnself into new vigor, after 
the exhaustion of his waking hours. A mother, because her chilcl 
was peevish, rocked it to sleep, and " it slept itself quiet," 

" A young lady, in great distress of mind, took a strong opiate, 
and slept Aerse//" to death." ** Many idle persons sleep themselves 
into a kind of unnatural stupidity," as topers driiik thetnselves drunk. 

The acetous fermentation of wine is one of the moderate kind of 
actions. A moment's attention will show something of its nature, 

1. The wine converts itself to vinegar. 

2. It imbibes oxi^-en, or the acidifying principle, from the air. 

3. It changes the surrounding atmosphere by changing the pro- 
portions of its constituents. 

P This liquid then, apparently motionless in the cask, performs li§ 
direct actions on three objects at the same time. 



100 VERBS. 

To shine, 

Tiie original and strict meaning of the verb to shine is to brighten 
•bjects'f to make them sheen, sheenyt shinijigf glossy, or bright^ 

" The Sun shines." 

This verb, during the last four hundred years, very seldom has an 
object directly expressed; not because it has no object, or because 
the sun, in shining, produces no effect-, but for more consistent rea- 
sons, which may be clearly explained. 

On philosophic principles, and likewise according to popular con- 
ception,^the sun, in shining, either produces some effect on its own 
body; or it throws out something from itself; or it influences bodies 
on which its shining falls. It does all the three. It exhibits itself m 
brightness, "in peerless majesty:" "It sheds its dazzling radiance 
through the world:" and it brightens all objects on which this radiance 
falls. 

The brilliancy which the sun displays on its own disk, is sun shine. 
It diffuses or sheds this brilliancy by shining it : and the light with 
which it shines, enlighteiis, or irradiates the world, is sun shine. 

The reason, then, why this verb has no object expressed, is, in 
the first place, because it has so many objects, that it is impossible 
to enumerate them; and secondly, because its action is so uniform 
and familiar that it is unnecessary to particularize for the sake of 
perspicuity. 

To'smile. 
To smile is necessarily to smile smiles. 

The sycophant " bo-wed and smiled himself into favor at court." 
"To smile our cares away." 
" And smile the -wrinkles from the brow of age." 

No action in the order of nature can effect less than two objects 
%\. the same time, nor can any verb ever have less than two objee* 

/ 



VERBS. lOi 

tive words inevitably depending on it in construction, whether ei- 
ther is expressed or not. This statement may be exemplified by 
the following anecdote, in which dupHcate objects, to each verb, 
are alternated with each other. 

A foreigner, hired to an American farmer, -wrote ivriting on a iheet 
of paper, or -wrote a sheet of paper with -writing, to inform the ni- 
formation to his mother^ or inform his mother by the infonnatiouy that 
the man who employed him in employment, or employed employment 
for him, fed him with meat, or fed meat to him, twice a week. His 
fellow laborer, struck with the singularity of such a letter, ashed 
the question of him, or asked him by the question, how he could the 
cunning of himself, or could himself with the cunning, to communis 
cate such a communication to his yV/e/zc^^, or communicate his friends 
and himself hy such a communication, and whether he did not himself 
in the </eec?, or ^tJ 7ior the cfe^J for himself, to ear the eating oi meat^ 
or tffl^ Twea/ for his eating, every day in the week ? 

The foreigner ans-wered the answer to his companion, or answered 
his companion with the answer, " Poh! would you. the wt7/ in yourself, 
or would you yourself by the wiV/, to Aaiye we with the having, or 
Aat;e the having of tne, to /e// the telling of such a ^a/e, or /e// the 
/a/e by such telling, that my friends in Europe would never believe 
the belief o£ it, or believe it with their belief P*' 

Such a letter, of course, is not given as a specimen of fashionable 
elegance in modern practice ; but, if any one, on perusing thii kind 
of composition, should think it whimsically new, far fetched, or 
overdone, let him take a little time to examine it, and try the most 
doubtful words, by the substitution of others, of similar meaning, 
as, instead of " employing a man in employment," to employ him in 
bntinest, or furnish him with employment. When this is done, let 
the expressions here used be compared with their prevailing con- 
tractions, which doubtless sound better, and perhaps, may at first 
seem more correct, because they are more familiar. 

" A man communicates, by letter, with his friend," 

Communicates wAa/ with his friend? The communication which 
communicates, without the community of more objects than one, is 
much worse grammar, rhetoric, and logic, than any thing in the 
foreigner's letter, however singular that may appear: yet this com- 
mwmeation of nothing with tome thing else, has become the estab- 

9# 



102 VERBS. 

lished diction, and is one of the most trifling absurdities in the doc- 
trine of unoperative actions, and neuter affirmations. 

It is the purpose of grammar, properly conducted, to explain lan- 
guage, on rational principles; to show the reciprocal dependence 
and connection of words; ascertain what is vague; and supply what, 
for the sake of common sense, must necessarily be understood: for, 
H" the scholarship of the civilized world is to be confined merely to 
teaching set forms or words, by rote, then it aims at nothing higher 
than children in all savage countries may learn from their grand- 
mothers. 

No other word is of so extensive use as the verb to be; and con- 
sequently none has so much need of relieving its monotonous 
repetitions by making its inflections irregular. No less than five 
verbs therefore are blended to make the parts of this one: for be, 
am, is, are, and were, are so many distinct radical terms. They 
have different shades of original meaning; as to live, or preserve 
one's self in being ; to assume or take some position, appearance^ or 
form; to exist, stand forth, or exhibit one's self; to breathe air, en^oy it, 
or appear in it; and to exercise vital powers of body or mind. Most 
©f the applications of the verb to be are the inferential meanings 
from the original ideas. 

^ This verb is not of a different nature from, others. The frequency 
©f its use depends on its specific importance, and not on any thing 
distinctive in its verbal character. It expresses transitive action 
in every form of its use; but that action belongs to itself, and t» 
Bot employed to conjugate other verbs; nor to make them either 
active or passive. 

On the same principles which have already been explained, the 
verb to be, always has two objective words irresistibly inferred. 

They are, or breathe air. 
They are, or air themselves. 

This verb has its first application in the manifest and highest 
^uaiities of living beings, and then, like other verbs, descends to 
mferior things, till the analogy can hardly be traced. No one can 
dcubt that the verb to be, with its governed objects expressed, mwst 



VERBS. 103 

appear remarkably new to those who never thought of such a thing 
before, and who take it for granted, that, if a word is not explained 
in their grammar or dictionary, it can only be because it never had 
any meaning. If, from unconscious and familiar use of the verb to 
be, * we are inclined to overlook its important signification, the re- 
flections of common sense ought to set us right; for while we see so 
strong a tendency to omit all words which can be spared, how should 
this one be retained in more than half the sentences through the 
language? The verb are, with its governed objects, has, indeed, a 
clumsy appearance in practice, because so little known; but this 
cannot alter its nature, nor the truth of its principle. Let the ob- 
jector read the account of the English prisoners in the Blackhole 
dungeon at Calcutta, suffocating for want of air; climbing over their 
dead and dying companions, and gasping for breath, at the scanty 
aperture ; and he will have a better idea of the verb are, as con- 
nected with the question of life and death. The twenty -three per- 
sons who survived that scene of horror, would easily have un- 
derstood and felt the explanation of this word, and would not have 
considered it either aukward, unmeaning, or entirely new. 

In the practical use of verbs, the variations are often very great, 
from one original and strict meaning, they pass, by easy transitions, 
to very diversified, analogous, and figurative uses. One striking 
circumstance in the employment of verbs, is the number of differ- 
ent agents to which the same verbal action may be referred, 

Mr. Jones nas a new grate in his front parlor, in which he burn* 
Liverpool coal. 

His new ^rate burns coal very well. 

The coal burns handsomely. — (burns itself.) 

The/re burns well. — (burns the coal.) 

The servant bums too much coal. 

Mr. Jones burns toal in preference to wood. 

The same kind of action frequently assumes very great variety 
in its relations, both to agents and objects. 



• For the comparative etymology and definitions of the different 
parts ©f the verb to be, see Essay on Language. 



104 VERBS. 

All verbs have objects alike; but, as it happens with other words, 
it becomes an elegant practice to omit these objects, when they are 
sufficiently understood to answer the purposes of discourse without 
them. Whether they are to be used, or omitted, does not belong 
to any possible rule to explain; but is entirely a question of fashion 
and good taste. 

The verb to feed^ to supply with feed or foodt is in very familiar 
use. A moment's attention will show how differently the same ac- 
tion in its literal and strict sense is performed in relation to differ- 
ent objects, as applied to their nature and wants. To feed a babe, 
is to put feed into its mouth : to feed a horse, is to fill the rack or 
manger before him : a man, who carries on large business, and em- 
ploys a hundred workmen, /eeJs them and ihe'ir fainilies effectually, 
by sitting in his office, and signing a bank check, for the amount of 
their wages, when it becomes due. 

To run, is one of the verbs which frequently, by custom, has its 
object omitted. This is particularly the case, when the fact is, that 
the agent runs himself, and the accompanying circumstances are 
such, that no other object is likely to be understood. Any neces- 
sary distinction, or particularity, requires the objective word, in this 
self action, to be expressed, and this is to be determined by the 
sense, and not by arbitrary rule. 

Two men were engaged in argument. The believer in intransi- 
tive verbs, sat out to run his opponent into an evident absurdity, 
and, contrary to his expectation, he ran himself into one. Leave 
out the objects of this verb, ru?i, and the sense is totally changed. 
He sat out to run into an evident absurdity, and he ran into one: 
that is, he did the very absurd thing which he intended to do. 

Td run signifies to advance some thing by continued progress 
from one place to an other, and generally includes the idea of ra- 
pidity. 

In general, a word has only one meaning, and all apparent varie- 
ties in its use, are but extensions, not perversions, of the original 
a»d strict import. 

" The man soon ran himself into discredit by his mismanage- 
»>ent.*' ** W€ chased the deer till wc ran ourselves out of breath.'* 



VERBS. 105 

** The horse ran himself to death." " The pirates ran their vessel 
into a small creek/' " We determined to run our ship ashore, 
and betake ourselves to the boats." " The profligate ru7is a dread- 
ful career." ** They were compelled ^0 run ^Ae^aw^/e/." " He ran 
the «/>ear through him." " He ran /z/m through the body." " The 
captain ran his men, to rescue them from the enemy." " The whale 
ran out fk^iy fathoms of line." " The glass has but a few more sands 
to run,^* "He rati a godly race J" ** The company run their steam 
boat every day." " They run three lines of stages." " The drivers 
run their horses, trot^ or -walk them, according to circumstances." 
•* He ran his head against a post." *' He ran a sliver into his finger." 
** The still runs 2^ puncheon of whiskey a day." " The distance was 
seven miles, and he raii it in twenty minutes." " The barrel runs 
emptyings.'^ "We ran the squirrel up a tree, and ran the rabbit into 
his burrow." " The wheel and reel ran off forty runs of yarn, and 
which yarn runs forty kjiots to the pound." "/?w?i that calico off, 
and see if it holds out measure." ** Run the account over, and see 
if it is right." *' The brokers run the bank severely." ** The note 
overran its time,^' " He out ran all his competitors,'^ 

6. Verbs are to be considered in relation to mood^ 
UnsCy person^ and number, 

MOOD. 

7. Mood is the difference in the manner of expressing 
actions, with regard to the agents or causes by which 
they are produced. 

8. There are three moods, divided by personal rela- 
tion. They are perfectly distinct from each other, and 
under one or the other, every verbal action is to be ex- 
pressed. 

9. These moods are the indicative^ or assertive ; the 
imperative^ or commanding ; and the injinitivey or un- 
limited. 



106 VERBS. 

10. In the indicative mood, the verb has one direct 
personal relation to the agent who performs the action : 
as, jfohn studies Latin. 

11. The imperative mood relates to the will of ^ first 
person, addressed to the agency of a second person, 
to do, or not to do, an action ; as, study your lessons ; 
bring me a book. 

12. The infinitive mood has no direct connection 
with a personal actor j but grows out of some stated 
condition of things ; as, the fire is kindled to warm the 
room. They are collecting a subscription to build a 
school-house. 

Here it is not said directly that any actor warms the room ; but 
that fire being kindled^ the consequent action, to -warm the room, 
grows out of that pre-existing circumstance. This is the nature of 
the infinitive mood, wherever it is found, though it is sometimes 
disguised in its appearance, by the contracted forms, or inverted 
order of expression. 

It is not necessary that the person who is said to perform an action, 
should be the direct and immediate actor. It is enough that he 
causes something to be done, which, without such causing, would 
not take place ; as, the postmaster-general established a post office 
in Louisiana. He sent a written order which required it to be done. 

The indicative statement may be affirmative or negative, supposi- 
tive or interrogative ; but in either case, it is equally the single 
personal relation to the actor. The difference between the pttsi- 
five, negative, and interrogative statements, in any case, has nothing 
to do with the character of a verb ; but is a mere question of fact. 

TENSE OR TIME. 

13. Tense denotes the verbal forms to distinguish the 
different periods of time. 



VERBS. 107 

14. There are three tenses, pait^ present^ and /w- 
ture, 

15. The action begun and not finished, is expressed 
by the verb in the present tense ; as, I go to school. 
George studies Latin. I have a letter now written. 

16. Completed action is expressed by the verb in the 
past tense ; as, I xvrote a letter and sent it away. 

17. The present and past tenses belong to the indica- 
tive mood. 

18. Verbs in the imperative and infinitive moods, 
are always future. 

No person requests an other to do an action yesterday ; and no 
©ne can obey a command till after he receives it. 

Imperative J^Ioad, 

Harry, go zndi fetch in some wood. 
Meet me to-morrow, and fail not. 

Infrutive Mood. 

I inte?id to go immediately. 

Intend is a verb in the indicative mood, present tense, and de- 
clares a purpose of the mind, to perform the future action denoted 
by the verb to go. 

7'e go is a verb in the infinitive mood, signifying an action in- 
tended by the speaker, but not cotnmeMced ; and therefore necessarily 
fwture. 



108 VERBS. 

I intended yesterday to go before this time. 

Here the verb intended^ is in the past tense, and the infinitive 
following' is future in relation to it, though it is not so in reference 
to the present time. 

19. The following verbs, on account of the frequency 
of their use, drop the word to before the succeding 
verb in the infinitive mood: Bid^ can^ do^ dare^ feel^ 
heafy lety may^ must^ see^ shall^ and will; as, they can 
read^ and not they can to read ; I beared you^m^, and 
not to sing\ 

So we say I musty shall, or can have a new book, next week ; and 
not, I must, shall, or can, to have a new book. 

This is a mere contraction for convenience in the use of words, 
"which by their important meaning" are so often repeated. The omis- 
sion does not alter the grammatical construction. The second verb 
is alike dependent on the proposition which contains the first, and 
is in the infinitive mood. 

PERSON AND NUMBER. 

20. Verbs in the indicative mood, through their 
changes of form, take the agreement of person and 
number with those of their agents ; as, the horse runs^ 
the horses run; he is gone, rve are ready. 

21. Imperative and infinitive verbs are not varied in 
form, by person or 7iumber^ tho the imperative mood 
may be addressed to a single person, or to more than 
one. 

**• PARTICIPLES. 

22. A verb forms two derivative, or compound 
words, called participles ; one always ending in in^, 
called the present or active ; the other, commonly in d^ 
called the past or perfect. 



VERBS. 1U9 

From the verb rule are formed rul-ing rul-ed ; from 
go ^reformed go-ing gone. 

23. The participle in ing^ if not taken as a noun, re- 
tains its character as a verb, and has its governed ob- 
ject expressed, or necessarily understood. 

At the same time it is an adjective, by use,' des- 
cribing something by its condition, employment, or 

situation. 

The man is riding* his horse. 

Here the participle ridings retaining its action as a verb^ has the 
noun horse as its objective word. 

Ridingi as an adjective, describes the man, by the circumstances 
in which he is placed. 

24. The past participle denotes the resulting effect 
produced by verbal action. It, as an adjective^ always 
describes some thing as being in the state or condition 
of being, in which the termhiated action has placed it« 

The glass is broken. 

It is in that condliiony in which lheji?iished action of breaking has 
left it. 

Tlie book is printed. 

The act of printing is finished, and the book is as the effect of 
that actio?! has made it. 

" My son was lost, and now isfound,*^ 
He was well, but now is sick. 



* The syllable ing, is a part of the verb to be, and signifies the 
acting, or life-giving principle. 

10 



110 VERBS. 

25. The irregular verb to be is thus conjugated thro 
the different moods and tenses^ persons and numbers. 

Indicative Mood. 

Present Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

I am^ thou art^ he is^ We are^ you are^ they are. 

Past Tense. 

I xvas^ thou Tt'<75^5 he ri^a^. We were^ you xfcrf, they 

xvere. 

Imperative Mood. 

be. 

with thou^ or ^^w, understood 

Infinitive Mood. 

Participles. 

Present, or active. Past, or descriptive, 

being. been. 

. 26. -The assertion of the future can only be made by 
placing an infinitive verb after its proper indicative 
statement ; as 



VERBS. Ill 

I am to be we are to be 

thou art to be you are to be 

he is to be they are to be 

" Man never is^ but always to be blest.'* 

Any other verb in the indicative mood adnaits of the 
same construction ; as, 

I can, shall, must, wish, will, or intend to be. 

Next to the verb to be, which stands in importance before all 
«>thers, the verb to have, is one of the most extensive meaning and 
use. In its present acceptation it signifies to retain, claim, or o-we„ 
some possession, relation, or duty, and may have its object express- 
ed or implied ; as, a man has an arduous Jotirney to perform, next 
year. He has his arm shot off. 

27, The verb to have^ is thus conjugated^ 

Indicative Mood. 

Present Tense. 

I have^ thou hast^ he has. We have^ you have^ they 

have. 

Past Tense. 
t had^xhou hadst^ he had. We kad^ you had^ they had. 

Imperative Mood. 
have. 

Infinitive. 

to hav^. 



,112 VERBS. 

Participles. 

Present, or active. Past, or descriptive 

having, had. 

Indicative and infinitive moods together, to make a fu- 
ture tense. 

1 htave to be. I am to ha'ae, 

28. The regular verb to love, has its objecteither ex- 
pressed or implied. It is thus conjugated : 

Indkative Mood. 

Present Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

I love^ thou lovest^ he loves. We love^ you love^ they 

love. 

Past Tense. 

I lovedy thou lovedsty he loved. We loved^ you loved^ 

they loved. 

Imperative Mood. 

love. 

with thou or you understood. 

Infinitive. 
to love. 



VERBS. 113 

Participles. 

iPrcsent, or active. Past, oi* descriptive, 

loving, loved. 

Indicative and infinitive. 

" We exhort you to love one an other,'' 

Two species of composition may be equally correct, and yet dif- 
fer very much in elegance. This depends on a happy choice of 
words, so varied, as to prevent the appearance of repetition, or mo- 
notony. The following sentence shows in how many ways the same 
word, with its slight changes, may be used. Such composition 
wouldj be very clumsy in practice ; but it exhibits a better view of 
the principles of construction, and of the classing of words, than 
would be done by a more varied style. 

29. The writer -writes a -writings on -writing paper ; 
when he has done -writing the -writings or done the 
ivriting of the -writings the -writing paper is written^ 
or becomes written paper. 

This sentence is thus parsed : 

The defining adjective, referring to writer. 

-ii'viier common noun, singular, agent of the verb -writes, 

j'rites irregular verb, indicative mood, present tense, agreeing 

with its agent writer^ which is third person singular, 
i defining adjective, referring to the noun writing, to show 

how far its signification extends, or that it extends to 

one writing and no more. 
rMizn^, common noun, name of the thing written, or produced 

by writing, singular number, and object of the verb 

IV rites. 
e?i preposition, or adjective of specific local relation, de- 

scribing the condition in which the writing is placed, 

with reference to the paper. 

^vriiing describing adjective, referring to paper. 

10* 



114 



VERBSc 



paper ; 

he 

has 

done 

•xvfiiin^ 
the 

the 

ivriting 
paper 
is 

•writieUi 



t>ecomes 

written 
paper. 



It de'scribes the paper by denoting the kind of paper, ' 
and the use to which it is applied, 
common noun, singular number, object after the prepo- 
sition on,* 

contraction of two words, meaning' lohat timet with a 
preposition understood before it. At what time, 
pronoun, third person, singular number, masculine gen- 
der, agent of the verb has, 

irregular verb, indicative mood, present tense, agree- 
ing with its agent he, which is third person singular, 
describing adjective, referring to ivriting; has the wri- 
ting done, QV finished; has it in the state of finished or 
done writing. 

common noun, name of the act of writing; singular 
number, and object of the verb has, 
defining adjective, referring to -writing, 
common noun, name of the thing written, object after 
the preposition of understood; done the writing or per-, 
formance of the 7vriiing, 
defining adjective, referring to paper, 
describing adjective, referring to paper, 
common noun, singular, agent to the verb is. 
irregular verb, indicative mood, present tense, agree- 
ing with its agent /;rtj!)e?% which is third person, singular, 
describing adjective, referring to paper, to show the 
quality, condition, or state of being, in which it is placed 
by the finished act of writing, 

contraction for other, denning adjective ; in other 
words. 

irregular verb, indieative mood, present tense, agreeing 
with its agent paper, wlich is third person singular, 
describing adjective, referring to paper, 
common noun, singular number, object of the verb beC- 
comes. 



The same construction is preserved in the folKowing sentence, 
though the monotony is in part relieved by substituting other termi^^ 



* A particular explanation of the character and use of preposi- 
tions, will come more properly under that class of words.. 



VERBS. 115 

The scrivener draws a marriage contract, on 'writing paper ; when 
Ke has done ivntlng the contract, or finished the draft of the agree- 
Tnentf it is a contract -written on -written paper. 

A man bought some buttons, at a button store, to button his cloak; 
and an iron bar, of Vermont bar iron, to iron a yoke, and bar his 

door. 

SO. In the indicative mood there are four ways of 
expressing verbal actions. These are affirmative^ iieg^ 
ative^ interrogative^ and suppositive; as, I go; I go not; 
Does he go P If / go^ I will give you timely notice. 

31. The different moods are often combined in the 
same compound sentence; as in the last one given, 
which contains the three moods, 

32. The difference between the positive and nega* 
tive assertion, consists in the terms added to express 
the negation, and makes no difference in the character 
of the verb. 

33. It often happens, that, instead of making an ab- 
solute assertion, the statement is offered by way of sup- 
position, in connection with some thing else. This sup- 
positive use of verbs belongs to the indicative moocj^ 
md is very frequent in compound sentences. 

Example. 

If I go, I will give you timely notice. 

iiirperative demand, Jj] gif, give, admit, this fact, 

Suppositive assertion, I go. 

Direct assertion, I -will the determination, 

infinitive resuU, to give you timely notice. 



116 V£RBS» 

If two yards of cloth cost nine dollars, what is the 
pi'ice of thirteen yards ? 

Imperative demand, ift givet or allow this fact. 

Sappositive statement, two yards cost nine dollars. 

Indicative question, what is the price of 13 yards ? 

An other imperative verb may always be substituted for z/, with- 
out altering the sense ; as, Jilloxvy ov suppose that 2 yds. of cloth cost 
nine dollars, what will 13 yds. cost ? 

BROKEN OR DEFECTIVE VERBS, 

34, Several verbs, formerly conjugated through the 
different moods and tenses, have acquired a specific ap- 
plication in the most contracted form. It is found very 
convenient in practice to employ them in this way, on 
account of their appropriate import, and frequent use ; 
but the contractions of these words have not changed 
either their meaning or their manner of meaning. 

25, The verbs disguised by their contractions, and 
still retained in very frequent use, in the imperative 
mood, are but^ else^ if tho or though^ unless^ and yet. 

The disguise of these words, in most instances of their present 
use, is very slight. 

36. Bui is composed of two words with directly opposite meanings, 
accidentally run into the same spelling. 

Jitit^ contracted of be out, becomes a verb, in the imperiAtlve mood, 
signifying the same as the compounded verbs ex-clude, ex-cept, out- 
take, re-jeci. 

"All, bicf one man, perished." 
All, except or l€at)e out one man. In this example, the noun ma7i 
is the direct object of the verb but. 

*' When nought but the torrent is beared on the hill, 
And nought but the nightingale's song in the grove.'' 



Torrent and song in this example are direct ohjects of the verb but. 
Nought save the torrent, would be the same construction. 

" None but his intimate /r/e«c?5 were admitted.'' 
" Any thing but a disjunctive conjunctive.'^ " No thing but fear re- 
strains him/' 

The noun before the verb but is often omitted where by HeceS" 
sary association it is sufficiently understood. 

*' These (seasons) are (nothing) but the varied God.^^ 

" He had (none) but only me.'' 

*' (Nothing) but five loaves and two jfishes" 

JJut, to but, to butt, is to add, to join, bring into firm contact. 

His land buts or butts mine. 

** It is butted and boutided sls follows." 

Two fighters buttedheSids, and one killed the other. 

A but, butt, or butment, is a joining, or joining part. The butt of 
a tree is the part which jom^ the stump or support. The but or kut( 
of a farm is the boundary, where it butts or joins an other, or is bu^ 
ted by it. . The butt of ridicule ; that against which ridicule is to be 
thrown. 

An animal gives an other a violent butt of the head. A man ran 
with a full or severe butt against a post. 

Button is a derivative from but ; and is so called because itjoins^ 
ov fastens, one thing to an other. 

" Not only saw he all that was, 

But much that never came to pass.'* — M'Finga!, 
'^ He is gone ; but by a gainful remove." 
Add the fact or consideration, he is gone, by a gainful remove. 

But, to add, to superadd, to join, to profit, was formerly written, 
in different ways, butte, bote, bot, boot. 

" If love had booted care or cost,'' 
tliat IS, added, prof ted. 

Five dollars to boot, httween horses, is five dollars to add to the 
cheapest. 

It was evidently the want of knowing the etymology of the word 
but which led Mr. Locke into such confusion in attempting to expfein 
its meaning : for even with his powerful intellect, the question still 
applies, "What can we reason,->6»<? from what we know r" 



118 VERBS. 

The two meanings of 5w^ are directly opposed to each other ; biti 
(add the fact) there is no difference in their manner of meani7ig ; 
neither of them can be used, but (except) as an imperative verb, 

37, Else is a verb used at present only in the imp'erative mood ; 
and, consequently, without change of form. 

Unless is the same word in an altered appearance. 

jRlse, eleset elesse, alesse, alaes, alase, onles, onlese, unletse, lese, 
lease, less, and many others, are different forms in which the same 
word has been spelled, by the best Enghsh writers. In all the forms 
it means the same thing, less, lessen, loose, loosen, unloose, lose, unlose, 
release, relinquish, dismiss, take away. The prefix tin is some times 
used, from habit or carelessness, where it is redundant ; as to ravel, 
or un-ravel, and others. To lessen any thing ,• to less it, as twenty 
less Jive, X less y, in algebra ; to unless a thing, or to else it, if it was 
fashionably elegant to say so, is to loosen, detach, or take away, some 
portion from it. There is no difference of meaning between else 
and unless ,' but the beautiful and convenient difference, in the mo- 
dern application of that meaning, gives not only variety, but brevity 
and clearness, and ought not to have been so long overlooked. 
This difference is that else always refers back, and unless refers for- 
tvard, to the propositionf fact, cireumstarice, or thing, which is to be 
leesened, or taken away. Else is less, except, or obviate, some thing 
previously specified; and unless is, take out or remove some thing^o be 
specijied after the use of this word. 

He will be punished, unless he repents. 

Unless {the fact) he repents, he will be punished. 

He must repent,- else he will be punished. 

From this use of these w^ords, it unavoidably happens that unless 
may come at the beginning, or middle, but never at the end of a sen* 
tence ; and else can never begin one. The condition to be dismissed 
or obviated, must in one case be actually asserted before, and in the 
other, after, the verb. There are two opposite statements brought 
before the mind : one is to be withdrawn, or relinquished, that the 
other may stand good. 

This principle is right : it can not mean any thing else (this condi- 
tion). 

This principle is right : else (the preceding statement, then) I 
mistake. 



VERBS. 119 

This principle is right ; unless (the following position) I mistake. 
Unless (the supposition) I mistake, (then) this principle stands 
good. 

To lessen any thing, is, in its philosophic principle, to take some 
part of its bulk, or substance, from it; and to take one thing from an 
other, is to lessen the aggregate made by the two. 

Else and unless are called, in the existing grammars and diction- 
aries, pronouns, adverbs, and conjunctions. They certainly are not 
pronouns ; unless, as names, or at least as substitutes for names, they 
represent persons or things. The connection, opposition, circumstance, 
or manner, denoted by these words, under the imaginary character of 
adverbs and conjunctions, can be no other than what nouns generally, 
and verbs and adjectives always convey. The nouns debt and credit, 
as referred to a merchant's leger, denote both connection and opposi- 
tion. Every possible relation of one thing to an other, includes the 
ideas of opposite sides, with a connecting medium : consequently, 
every adjective is both conjunction and adverb, for the same reason 
that else and unless are so. The verb to -weigh must suppose bodies 
opposed to each other, and connected with one pivot. In the phrase, 
" to subtract one thing from an other," this verb, by its necessary 
meaning as a verb, includes all the ^* opposition,^' "connection,** "mo- 
difying,*' " time,** "place** "manner,'* Siud " circumstance,** which 
unless and else, under any name, can possibly denote; and it has the 
same specific meaning, as a word. 

Lesi, in reference to its formation, as a word, is a past participle, 
from the verb to lessen, less, loose, release ; and is an adjective, as a 
part of speech. It relates to a fact, condition, or circumstance, as 
being rejected, that the whole force may be concentrated on what re- 
mains, after such relinquishment, 

"Help him, lest (the circumstance) he die.^* 

That supposition, " he (should) die," being lessed, lest, unlessed, 
dismissed, rejected, determined against, " help him," accordinglj^ with 
undivided purpose. The adjective lest refers to the noun circum- 
stance, or equivalent word, of which the after phrase,v " he should or 
might die,** is only the extended proposition. The participial adjec- 
tive lest is idiomaticuUy confined to this form of use ; and this neces- 
sary order, in the collocation, is the only peculiarity or disguise in the 
em.ployment of the word. Other adjectives often take the same 
construction, but are not confined to it. 



120 VERfc^. 

Fruitful the soil, *' inviting the clime,*^ " serene the sky.'' 

** No torturing ills can find admittance there, 
Supplied GSLch want, and banished every care." 

3S. If, formerly written yif, yef, yeve, gif, giflT, gyfF, geve, give, 
and in various other spellings, is a verb, in the imperative mood. It 
iS an altered form of the modern verb to give, with the same mean- 
ing. In its use, it requires tlie person addressed to grant, suppose, 
or allow, a fact, condition, or statement, made, as the foundation of an 
other proposition or question. The direct object of the verb is the 
noun fact, proposition, or other equivalent word, and of which the 
proposition expressed is the exemplification. 

If four yards cost eight dollars, five yards will cost ten dollars. 

Give or suppose (the statement) four yards cost eight dollars. 

If (it is true) (that) four yards cost eight dollars. 

If, give, grant the fact : what fact ? that fact, the fuct, '•' it is true ^ 
*• Ye must come unto my master deare, 
" Giff that your name be Barbara Alien." 

39. Tho, or though, or, as the same word appears in various forms 
in the old books, thoh, thof thojf, dof, and others, is nearly synoni- 
mous with the verb grant. Like other verbs of this restricted use, 
it has for its direct object a noun understood; but which is a su^^sti- 
tute for a whole proposition repeating the same idea in an amplified 
form. 

Yet is get. The Saxons had one letter for tj and g, and the inter^ 
changes between the two are very frequent in later times. Yd is a 
verb, in the imperative mood, and like the rest has a noun understood 
for its direct objct. It is also followed, like the rest, by a propo- 
sition, of v/hich the direct object is the summary name. 
" Tho he slay me,.yet will I trust in him." 

"Tho (the fact) he slay me, yet (the opposite fact) I will trust 
in him." 

Tho or grant the fact : what fact ? the fact, " he (may or should) 
slay me," yet or get, or retain this fiict • v/bat fact ? the fact that / 
will trust in him. 



VERBS. 1^1 

Tes is an other form of the same word. 

When a proposition is stated by way of question, it is very seldom 
iiecessary to repeat the whole in the answer. The contractions are 
various, in different countries and ages ; but, among polite modern 
nations, a single emphatic term, with the associations familiarly un- 
derstood, is deemed sufficient. 

Those who can reason on this word, with its necessarily associated 
facts and principles, will perceive that yes is a proper answer to a 
question, only when simple consent is all that is required. If the 
answer itself is to explain facts, the word yes is not appropriate. 

Do thirty-two quarts make a bushel ? Tes. 
How many quarts make a bushel ? Yes. 

Why is it that the word yes is a proper answer to one of these 
questions, and not to the other ? It will readily be seen that simple 
assent is all which the first question requires; while the second de- 
mands positive information. This second interrogation is answered 
by saying thirty-ttoo, which stands for the whole proposition, thirty- 
two quarts make a bushel, the connection of the answer with the 
question necessarily explaining the rest. 

Yes, in answer to a question, is get, take, my consent ; have the 
:hing as you suppose or wish. 

Tho it is the design of this work to avoid foreign languages, yet 
It may not be improper to mention, that the same practice prevails 
generally in other tongues. Several nations use the imperative of 
the verb to be^ In Fiance the yes is the participle of the verb to hear. 
This answer, equivalent to the English word heaved, is, by implica- 
tion, favorably heaved ; thai is, consented to, 

"jBe it unto thee as thou wilt.*' 

^y aye is the old Norman or French verb, aye, ayes, ayes, have^ 
get, take. Like yes, it is now a verb in the imperative mood, have or 
take what you ask ; take or receive my assent. Be it unto thee, or 
have the thing, as thou wilt. 

Besides the foregoing irregular or defective verbs, there are se- 
veral others, which, from a vague conjecture that they have no mean 
ing of their own, are, under the name oHielping verbs, represented. 
in existing grammars and dictionaries, as being used merely for the 
purpose of m.odifying a portion of the words which have signifiea 

1 1 



122 VERBS. 

tion : and yet, unaccountable as it may appear, tliese helping verbs 
are employed to help each other, where, according to the neuter the- 
ory, there is no action implied^ nor specter meaning to be modified. 
AYhat is the philosophic nature of that help, which is either given or 
required, where there is 710 action to be done or ** expressed?'* To 
call a set of words auxiliaries^ and say they are used to conjugate 
the moods and tenses of other verbs, is no explanation, and is only 
calculated to deceive. Which of the colleges is sufficiently expert 
in the art and nnystery of neutralityy to interpret what is meant by 
the mood and tense of a " condition of being .?" What do auxiliaries 
denote by their own meaning as words r for, if they have no aOso* 
lute meaning, then certainly there is no difference of meaning be- 
tween one of them and another, more than between two noughts 
in arithmetic. 

The compilers diiTer very much from eacli other, in making out 
the arbitrary lists of words to call auxiliaries, Mr. Harris, in his 
learned work, has seven ; Mr, Murray ten ; some have more, and 
some less. Which is right ? What is the essential character of an 
auxiliary, or the difference between that and a principal verb .^ 
Why is the same word auxiliary at one time, and principal at an 
other ; active and neuter^ transitive asid intransitive, in the same 
sentence ? and by what evidence shall the learner distinguisli these 
opposite characters in the same verb ? Does it vary its absolute or 
its relative meaning, where it has no meaning at all ? For a particu- 
lar example, what is Xhc difference in do, be, have, ovivill, as auxilia- 
vies and 'eiS principal verbs 7 What is the grammatical qy pJuhsopIuc 
difference between the neuter principal verb to exist and the neuter 
helping verb to be, when, in all the dictionaries, eacli defines the 
other, and neither means any thing distinctive, but each expresses 
state of being in general, s^nd not one condition of existence more ih^xn 
an other ? 

Instead of multiplying grammar rules and exceptions, for each 
plirase which language can employ, it will save much confusion, 
to begin by finding a meaning for the important words too long re- 
presented as having no real signification. 

All the believers in helping verbs appear to reckon among the 
number, be, can, do, have, may, shall, and ivill. Some add let, must, 
and ought. 

It is somewhat curious, that, taking either list, these words neither 
differ from other verbs, nor agree with each other, in any one prin- 



VERBS. 123 

clple, assumed as the basis of their auxiliary character and classifi- 
cation. - 

Are they auxiliaries, because they are defective^ or not carried 
thro all the correlative parts in mood and tense ? then the list should 
reject be, do, have, and let, and admit several others. Is it be- 
cause they do not take the proper infinitive form after them ? then 
we must reject be, have, and ought, which always take the infinitive, 
u'ith to, as its sign ; and the verbs bid, dare, feel, hear, help, make, and 
vee, must be classed, in part, with auxiliaries. 

As an instance of a defective verb, and one specifically applied, 
the word quoth is the most remarkable in the languag-e. It is used 
only in the indicative mood, singular, and the past tense ; and, con- 
trary to general practice, it must come before the agent, and only 
in the first or third person. 

Few as the words called auxiliaries are in number, so important 
are their meanings, and the actions they " express," that no theory 
which misinterprets them can be otherwise than bad. 

An examination of these words, according* to rational science, and 
•he most elegant practice, will present them in a light very diflTer- 
ent from the mysterious technicality in which they have hitherto 
been involved. 

What is called the verb to be, is made up of six different radical 
verbs, taken to make out the correlative parts of mood and tense, 
and relieve the monotonous repetition of sounds which would attend 
its employment with that frequency its importance requires. 

Am is a compound of ah, breath, and to breathe, bfe, and to live, 
tight, and to light; and ma, the hand, and to hand. In early times, this 
verb ma denoted a large part of the actions done by man, of which 
the hand was the instrwnent. It took the general meaning to make, 
to perform, operate, execute, produce, manufacture. The early 
words in language were few in number, and very extensively ap- 
plied. The verb ma was first to operate with the hand as an instru- 
ment, and next v/ith any means of effective production substantially 
equivalent. Those who have not paid much attention to the sub- 
ject, might view with great surprise, the prodigious number of 
words, in every known tongue, which have relation to the human 
hands. All unlettered nations are ignorant of air as a substance at 
rest. They see the light, live in it, and breathe it; and that is to 
light or life themselves ; for light, life, and live, are but modified 
forms of one word. The vfovdmanufacture^ itself, signifying to /?er- 
form luith hands, runs into other equivalent operations. So the 



^-4' VERBS. 

ompoand Ah-ma vias to esercise, or perform, the function of light-^ 
igy or lifing one's self. The letter a, according to the general course 
ia contracting words, was soon dropped, and the letter h being sub* 
^equently omitted, leaves cm, as now used; but with the same 
neaning which the word has always had: for no one can use the 
term without conveying this fact, whether he truly interprets his 
©wn expressions or not. 

In the practical application of the verb am, it can have no varia- 
lion in its objects, and objective words are, therefore, unnecessary in 
use. They could serve no purpose of distinction or perspicuity. 
One man is not contemplated as inflating the lungs of an other ; but 
each as performing this vital function for himself. It is not neces- 
sary to say I breathe breath, or vivify mi/ self "With breath ; for this is 
unavoidably understood in saying I am : and this understanding of 
the objective words depends, not on any difference in grammatical 
or philosophic principle, but on the associated facts in the special 
case. *^m is confined in its use exclusively to the indicative mood, 
present tense, first person singular. It has, therefore, no variety in 
Us maimer of meaning. 

Am, as a noun, is life or being, spirit, the vital principle ; and, in 
its highest application, Esseiitial, Self-Existent Being, the Life-giving' 
JPo-u'er. 

This word may be exhibited in most of the principal languages 
of the earth, as far back as letter writing can be traced. It is, in 
its principle, very deeply interesting by its historical and religious 
associations, and by the manner in which it stands connected with 
the thoughts and circumstances of men. A volume might be written 
upon it ; but it is not the design of this work to depart from expla- 
nations confined to the English language, and addressed to English 
scholars. 

ait, are, art, these are the same word, which in modern practice is 
slightly and conveniently modified in form ; but with- 
out any alteration of meaning. Thou art is contracted 
from thou arest. 

" They are,'^ means first, they air or are themselves / 
they supply themselves with air ,- they vivify, inspirit, 
and preserve themselves by means of air ; and applied 
to the lower ranks of creatures, they continue them- 
selves in air ; or the regions of air, light, or being* Se- 
cond, They are air,- they inhale ox imbibe air; as they 



VERBS. 125 

drink drinky sleep sleeps or breathe breath; they enjoy 
tlie enlivening influence of air ,- and inferior things do 
some thing as nearly analogous to the same action as 
their various natures and circumstances will admit, 

JBe signifies to live, t-o breathe, to exercise the qualities and 

functions of animal life ; and when applied, by analogy, 
to matter, to take, possess, or hold, some state of being, 
among existing things. It is the same 7vord, with one 
letter altered, as in the first syllable of bi-ography, which, 
if modern fashion allowed, might be written be-ography, 
or life-ography ; that is, a graved, engraved, inscribed, 
or -written account of a person's life, 

is signifies to ex-ist, being a contraction from the same radi- 

cal word ; to stand forth ; to exhibit one's self; to take, 
or hold some stand, or position, in the universe of exist- 
ing things. Is, always denotes self-action. One person 
does not exist an oihtv person, and the actor is one of the 
objects. 

Is, like other verbs, has a verbal noun, or the equivalent 
idea, necessarily implied ; as, It stands its standing ; it 
exists its existence; it holds its place, and acts its acts, among 
the actors, living and dead, throughout the Creator's 
works. 

Were^-ivert, iverth,tvorih, iverde, ivord, "In the beginning was \\i^Word, 
the H'ordwsiS with God, and the Word was God." These 
are all but the variations of one term, signifying spirit; 
the enlivening power; the vital, or life giving principle .• 
" They -were ;" they inspirited themselves, they possessed 
vitality; and, as applied to the minor gradations of being, 
tliey retained and exercised those acting potvers, analo- 
gous, by receding degrees, to animal life, which acting 
powers pervade every portion of the material loorhl, 

¥Va» is a modification of were, from the same radical term, and 

with the same meaning. 

To ra?2, past tense could. To ca7i a thing signifies to perceive it, to 
comprehend, or kno'iv it ; to possess the requisite knoidedge, ability^ 
or skill, to manage it. To con, to cun, to ken, are different spellings 

9# 



126 VERBS. 

and pronunciations of the same word, for different counties of En- 
gland, and at different times. They all have the same meaning, to 
see, to understancly to be able, that is skilful, by practice, or enlight- 
ened comprehension of the subject. "Ica7i demonstrate all the 
problems in Euclid's Elements :" that is, I can or keii the 7oai/ or 
7uode, I can the mathematical skill. That can denotes the '^poten- 
nal mood,'^ or signifies "to be able," is simply because " knoxvledge 
IS power ••" It is for the same reason that "a -wise man is strong : 
yea, a man oi knowledge increaseth strength ;" or, that *' he scaletli 
the city of the mighty and casteth down the strength of the conft- 
lence thereof 

" And Ignorance of better things makes mar, 
Who can not much, rejoice in what he can,^^ 

*' A famous man, 
Of every witte somewhat he can^ 
Out take that him lacketh rule 
His own estate to guyde and rule." — Goweh, 

Of every art somewhat he kno-wsy 
J'lX'Cept that to him lacks rule 
To guide his own affairs. 

^rho, essential idea of the verbs can and see^ is precisely the same, 
to grasp, seize, per-ceive, or com-prehend, external objects. The word 
mind is listK 'd participial or derivative word. It signifies the same 
AS the perceptive faculty, that is, the power which catches, takes, and 
^io/J6' ideas or objects. No real operative cause is ever seen. No 
name applied to a cause, as such, can ever be otherwise than a deri- 
vative word. Among the best writers in the language, the use of 
ran without a following infinitive, is well established. It is often em- 
ployed by the earlier writers as synonymous with see, 

♦^ Jason, she cried, for ought I ^eeor ca?i, 

This deed, &c." Chaucer. 

Jfay ; past tense might, signifies to have and exercise might, 
strength, or physical power. An ignorant man may lift a great 
weight ; an elephant may carry a heavy load ; an orator can make 
3n elgquent address; ?^ poet can elevate our conceptions. 



VERBS. 127 

' A sliglit examination will show that all power must be resolved 
into the two kinds, physical energy and mental skill. The word may, 
immediately denoting one, and can the other, renders these verbs of 
great use; and, as actions take place inconsequence of the power to 
do them, may and ca7i are generally followed by an other verb, in the 
infinitive mood. The word to, as in other cases of the kind, is com- 
monly dropped in this following infinitive, to shorten the expres- 
sion, on account of its frequency. May has been represented by 
learned writers as denoting liberty or permission merely ; but this 
liberty is delegated /)owe7\ The liberty is the incident, not the es- 
sential principle. If one man gives an other a ^^ poiver of attorney," 
to authorize and empoiver\\\r[ito do what he was not at liberty to do 
before, it is the same principle. T\iis permission which may is sup- 
posed to express, is but the granting of poxver from a superior. 

The word do will require very little explanation, as that is not 
considered in present grammars and dictionaries as absolutely with- 
out meaning. 

There is no other difference in the use of the word, than that the 
object is sometimes expressed, and at others only implied ; but the 
sitme holds good of almost every other verb in the language which 
s any way frequent in its occurrence. 

I do write is a mere contraction ; and means, in grammar and fact, 
1 employ or exert my skill, I do my endeavor, to write. It is not 
common in modern style, to insert the object for the verb do, when 
it precedes an other verb, in what is considered its ^^ helping" ofRce; 
as, "We do you to knotv.^' 

Have. The chief difScuIty with this word^ imder the imaginary 
character of an auxiliary, results from the mistake of its import. It 
is represented as denoting mere possession. When we say " A 
man uas his /e^ broken, or his arm shot off, we certainly do not mean 
that he gets his leg, in one case, and his arm, in the other, into pos- 
session, by these accidents. This shows at once that possession does 
TiOt belong to the essential meaning of the verb have. J have lost a 
paper. The argument to show that, in this sentence, the word 
paper is not the object of have, is, that if the paper is lost, it is 
not in possession : but if I have a paper in my hand, and say I want 
to have that paper burned ; my \vant here, is to have the ihi?ig, from 
an actual possession, not only out of possession, but out of being. 
Have and heave are originally one word, and are nearly synonymous 



128 VERBS. 

in modern use. To have Is to sway, controll, dispose of, in any war, 
to stand so related to a thing as, in any way, to affect its absolute or 
relative condition. A man has these relations not only to his pos- 
sessions, but to his actions, duties, moral, social, and other connec- 
tions. He has important business on his hands : he has obligations 
which must be discharged : he has an uncle in China : he has his 
7vork done : he has it yet to do. 
He has a letter written. 
He has a written letter. 
He has written a letter. 

These three sentences, by familiar and habitual association, con- 
vey different ideas to the mind, but that difference does not depend 
on the verb has, either specifically or grammatically. This verb 
has, is, in the three instances, equally active and transitive ; equally 
in the present tense, and the noun letter is alike the object of it. 

The first sentence imports the man has a letter, in the condition in 
which the act of xvriting has placed it : in the second expression, 
the letter is in the same relation to the man, and to the verb has. He 
has the letter, and it is of that kind which the act of v/riting has 
made it, and which the participial adjective written describes. The 
third sentence, he has written a letter, conveys the additional, asso- 
ciated fact, that the written letter Aa.s become so, by the man's own 
agency, direct or indirect. 

I want you to have my watch cleaned. 

This sentence does not mean that I wish to have an other w«7j 
possess my tvatch : but to have him have it, heave it^ put it, or cause 
it to be, in a new condition. 

The reason why the old perfect tense of helping verb grammar 
"always conveys an allusion to x\\q^ present time,*' is the simple and 
strong one, that this verb have, which makes it, is always present 
tense. The />asf />firr/czjr;/e connected with it, is, without exception, 
an adjective referring to the object of the verb. 

It is important to have this verb well understood. Those who at- 
tempt to have it explained as an auxiliary, will have much trouble to 
little purpose ; and it will be fortunate for the rising generation to 
have this absurd traditional neuter theory banished from colleges and 
schools, that they may have language taught according to fact and 
common sense, which would, indeed, be a very different having horn 
what they now have. 

Must, signifies to be in bondage or constraint, to be bound or com- 
pelled. I must depart this evening. Some powet, or circumstances. 



VERBS» 129 

to whicli It is necessary to conform, require me to depart. I yield, 
or acknowledge the obligation to depart. 

Shall signifies to owe, to lie under constraint, cbligaiion, or duty, 
" The subject shtdl bear true allegiance to his king ;*' the citizen 
should be faithful to his country. 

To tvillt past tense would, signifies to tiiish, to exercise volition, I 
-ujill the thing to be so. 1 have the will or wish to have it done. In 
the extension of -will to objects not having free volition, in its literal 
sense, it is analogous inherent principles, or tendency. A bullet in 
the water wi7/ sink, and a cork -will swim ; water ivnll run downward, 
and smoke roill ascend. 

Will, in its essential principle, is an active tendency in all things, 
disposing them to change, and to one kind of action or change ra- 
ther than an other In verbal expression, the reference is to the sen- 
sible indication of such disposition or tendency to change, mani- 
fested to the organs of perception, as the means or instrumentality 
employed, or exhibited in a state of preparation. 

The word -willf as a word, traced thro the principal languages of 
the earth, from early times, with the physical and mental principles 
with which it is unavoidably connected, is extremely important and 
interesting ; but this is not the place for an extended illustration. 

The difference, in use, between shall and ivilU is very simple, 
when the words are understood. Shall, from its meaning, al ways 
relates to external necessity, obligation, or requirement, and ivill to 
inherent disposition, aptitude, or tendency. 

The moo7i will rise, this night, in its own regular course, and ac- 
cording to the inherent laws of its nature : it shall, one day, be ex- 
tinguished, in conformity with a superior law or power to which it 
shall and must yield obedience. 

We read in the homilies of the Saxon English church, To Him 
alone we shall us to devote ourselves: Chaucer says. The faith we 
shall to God ^ that is, the faith we o-we. To shall is always to owe 
the debt, duiy^ obligation, reasonable service^ and must is simple 
bondage, or physical restraint. 

It would be difficult for any thing under the name of explanation, 
to excede the perplexity with which the existing grammars are fill- 
ed, in the vain hope of teaching the use of words, by artificial rules, 
without knowing their meaning. Having given a slight view of 
some of these words, which appear to have been the subject of great 
error, the reader will be better prepared to examine the farther 
principles, which depend on a clear understanding of the verb. 



130 VERBS. 

It was before said that a verb forms two participles, one always, \\\ 
English, ending in ing ; the other, having its regular ending in eel . 
and, in about two hundred irregular verbs, ending in d, t, or ?i, which 
are alterations of ed, or the retention of the Saxon terminational syl- 
lable 672. ♦ 

The participle in ing is a compound of the radical wore?, 7ioun, or 
vei^b, and the appended word ing, which siguifies be or act, for the 
ideas are both one. The active 'dnd the vital principle are the same 
thing. Lively and active, liveliness and activity, are synonynDous 
terms. Ing, and the equivalent syllable to form the present partici- 
ple In other languages, is the noun being, and the verb to act, or to 
be,_ 

This participle, as a word thus compounded, is primarily a noun, 
and is the name of the action, taken as an act, a fact, circumstance, 
or thing. Like other nouns, it takes a secondary place, as a word 
of description, or an adjective. 

The horse is running a race. 

He is in the adt of running a race : he is in the running of a race. 

The n»an is performing a piece of work. He is engaged in the 
performing ov performance of a piece of work. It is the most simple 
way of explanation in practice to make the participle a mere noun, 
or an adjective, without regarding its incidental character, as ex- 
pressing action. Where, according to the old grammars, it is said to 
govern an objective rvord, all difficulty will be removed by putting a 
defining adjective before it and a preposition after it. 

The compound word called the past participle, and which in Eng- 
lish ends in ed, is formed by getting one verb into the past tense, in 
the way which will be hereafter explained, and then appending 
that word to other verbs. The syllable ed is contracted of the old 
past tense verb dede, did, or do7ie. 

The wall is pai7it-ed. It is Sipaini-ed wall. It is 2i paint-done wall, 
such as the doiie act of painting has made it. 
, It was said, in the Synopsis, that every adjective is either a noim 
or SL participle, made adjective by use. A paint store is a store which 
has some relation to the article called paint. A paint-ed store is made 
so by the effect of some action performed upon it with paint. A y 
trotting horse, a spinning machine, a writing desk, are so by some 
relation which they bear to those several actions. It is the common 
process of language that participles turn into nouns by dropping the 
names which are at first used with them, as when we say the ground^ 
instead of the ground-earth. In the same way we have mortals in- 



VERBS. 131 

stead of mortal beings ; a doT?iestic, a general. With a little more of 
disguise, we have j^e/J for /eZ/eJ land, that is, where the timber is cut 
doron; the roadfov the rof/e way, and a vast variety of otliers. While 
a past participle is considered in character as such, it is always an 
adjective by use. The term participle is therefore applied to those 
words in reference to their mode of formation, and the term adjec- 
tive to designate their classification as belonging to one of the three 
parts of speech. 

Among the participial adjectives which have become most dis- 
guised in modern language, are those which describe the specific 
local relation of one thing to an other. From what appears to be a 
total mistake of their character, they have been called prepositioiis^ 
and represented as governing a succeding word. These adjectives 
called prepositions, never govern other words, and their immediate 
reference is always to an objective word before them, 
. The following hints will give a general view of this set of adjeC' 
lives i or describing words : 

Every action which takes place produces some resulting effect, 
both on the actor, and on one or more external objects. It will not 
be necessary to repeat what lias already been said respecting these 
general principles of action. The effect of every action is, first, to 
throw its direct object into some relative condition, state, ov character, 
in which it was not before, and, independent of such action, would 
not have been placed. Whatever a^e/;/ moves s^w object, necessarily 
moves that object f com some position, to or towards some other. A 
participial adjective describes the object, as being in such newj, pro- 
duced condition ; and the new relation in which the object is so 
placed may be general, or it may be specific, with reference to some 
other particular thing. 

A man had his house raised. In this expression the adjective 
raised is the general relation. Tlie house was made a raised houte, 
in reference to its former condition, as compared with the surface of 
the earth, or other surroundii.g things sufiiciently understood, by 
familiar association. 

The binder made one book like. He placed one book near. He 
laid one book on. He sent the book thro. 

The last words, in these four sentences, are all participial adjectives 
describing thebook in its new conditioir, but the description, in each 
case is incomplete, because this new condition is one of specific 
relation to some other thing which must be mentioned to finish the 

-scrip I ion, 



lo2 VERBS. 

Whatever is like, is likened to some thing else ; and 7iear is the 
participle veared. On is joined^ and thro is past, with the associated 
idea of having passed by traversing' or perforation. Each of these 
four adjectives has the object of a verb before it, to which, as a de- 
scriptive word, it imnnediately refers : it has an other object express- 
ed or understood, after it ; connecting the two, and showing the 
relation between them. 

The following are the chief adjectives of specific local relation, 
called prepositions, as at present used in Euglish. 

Mouty above, after, against, ani'dst or amid, among, around, at, 
befor€s behind, below, besides OT beside, between, beyond, by^ down, for, 
from, in, into, of, on, over, rowid, thro, to, towards, under, up, upon, 
with, within, without. 

There is ^much confusion in what is given^ for explanation of these 
words in. the books; and the theory of neuter verbs and prepositions, 
as taught in colleges and schools, will not for one moment bear th# 
test of scrutinizing investigation. The position, however, is as- 
sumed that this system must be true, because it has long been be- 
lieved. The old have grown familiar with the formal routine, and 
follow it from habit, as their grand fathers did when they were 
masters of ceremonies in the technical masquerade; the young re- 
ceive it on tnist ; and, all together, under the sanction of authority, 
pass on in throngs, to keep each other in countenance. 

A boy fell into the river, and got wet. 

Fell what into the river ? J^othing at all ; because, we are learn- 
edly told, by all the colleges and royal academies in the world, that 
fell is a neuter or intransitive verb. What was wet ? The boy. Cer- 
tainly not the boy, as agent of the verb, and before he fell. Neither 
can it be the boy,Sihev he felly if this verb has no object, and denotes 
no resulting effect. What isinto ? A preposition. What office does 
it perform, as a preposition ? " It connects other words, and shows 
the relation between them.^' What relation here ? The relation be- 
tween the boy and the river. Surely not the relation between the 
dry boy before he fell, and the river,- ih'dt relation would be express- 
ed by out of instead of into. Tlie boy was no more in or into the ri- 
ver, than he was wet, till he was placed in that new " conditioti of 
being,^^ by the effect which his fall produced on an object. 

The hoy fell (his person, his bodv, his self, into the river^ and got 
himself) wet. 



VERBS. 133 

If grammar is worth learning", at an expense of so much time and 
money; it should be stripped of its absurd technical assumptions, 
and taught according to fuct, science, and good sense. 

These effective instructers will show that, after every fallings 
some object must he fallen^ and that, according to rational probabili- 
ty, the resulting condition of being in which such ya//e^^ oA^VcMs 
placed, at the termination of the/a/4 is either in a fluid substance, 
or on something else. 

The implied object of this supposed intransitive verb, obviates 
the strange logic of a one sided relation, and offers the means for a 
clear understanding, both of the essential principle^ SiXid ofthee/?^ 
gant use. 

A matt ran against a post and -was badly hurt by it. 

How against 3. -post, or badly hurt, if the action has no object? 
What IS the agents or actor of an intransitive action P Simply an 
effcient cause, without real or implied connection with an effect; a 
parent independent even of a supposed relation to a child. How- 
comes this actively malicious post to practise such an unprovoked in- 
jury on the man, and make him suffer this effect of being hurt ? If the 
man dies by being thus hurt, the post is guilty of manslaughter, with- 
out any other mitigating circumstance, than that it was done without 
premeditation. It has not the plea of self defence ; for the peace- 
able man confined his inoperative action entirely to himself and ran 
no object against the post, 

" Prepositions,''' in the ordinary school practice, are called adverbs, 
or conjunctions, when the objective word is not expressed after 
them. Dr. Blair, in his Rhetoric, as other learned writers had done 
brtbre him, calls them /;>si-positive pre-positions, when apparently 
depending on a verb, and not foUowf^d by an " objective case," as, 

" To lift a thing up:* 

If this up Ihing does not happen to be Y^xxsed quite enough up, 
then it becomes necessary to raise it higher up. In this expression, 
then, of every day use, we have an unquestionable adjective, to ex- 
press the comparative degree of the ^^ quality,''* denoted by this 
rhetorical foregoing, afterconiing word, called a post-positive pre- 
position, 

\2 



134 VERBS. 

UpfUpper, upmost, are adjectives in the three degrees of compari- 
son, as much as high, higher, highest, and the difference in their 
meaning is very slight. So we have iii, inner, inmost ; out, outer or 
titter, outmost or utmost. The prepositions are also, like other ad- 
jectives, compared by a great number of secondary adjectives ; as, 
'Very far above, or beyond; directly against, entirely thro, exactly over; 
the child was close by, or very near to, its mother. 

Keeping in view the very plain fact that every relation must have 
two sides; and also the exposition of adjectives as being founded en- 
tirely on comparison, or the relations of things to each other, it will 
readily be seen that the partial modification of the more specific 
kind, is, in its principles, very simple. If we use the adjectives, 
east and souths the mind instantly suggests the correlative points 
-west and north, without their being mentioned, in words. We can 
no sooner say that the sky is clear, than the ideas of clouds and 
storms are comparatively presented ; and if the weather is said to be 
cold, that description is opposed to raarm. Up has its general com- 
parison with down, and may take a s/>ec/;^c relative application to a 
secend object; as, The squirrel is up the tree; the person is up stairs; 
the hunter rides up a steep hilL 

We never use the word above^ without speaking of something as 
being above, and it must be above some thing else, as a matter of 
course, whether it is barely «6o^•e the ground, or " ^bove XhcsQ 
heavens, to us invisible, or dimly seen.'* 

^3/ter, v/hether called preposition, or adverb, has but one meaning, 
and one application. Some thing must be placed after, or farther 
aft, than something else. No matter whether that some tiling else 
denotes position, motion, or time, which are but different names for 
the same relation. The word after describes the first thing by its 
relative, ov comparative situation: it makes the second thing a con- 
nected part of that description; and shows the relation between 
the two. This preposition is preceded by an objective word, depend- 
ing on a verb, '^nd followed by an other objective word, because in the 
same grammatical relation. This is the secret of the objective case 
after a preposition, wliich becom'es a confirmed habit in the use of 
language, though there is nothing in the meaning of the words 
themselves, by which they can govern a following object. 

Prepositions, as well as verbs, frequently omit the following word, 
because it is necessarily understood. 



^ VERBS. io^ 

** I told the man who is painting- my house^ to put on a good coat 
of white lead." 

Every person of ordinary sense understands that the workman 
was to put the paint on the house. 

If we speak of a man's taking his hat off^ or putting his boots o?i, 
there is no need of being very particular about objective words. 
Children will readily find them, if not falsely taught, and they are 
not likely to mistake in supposing that the man takes his hat off his 
feet, or puts his boots on his head. There is no need, therefore, of 
^* adverb conjunctions,'- or ^^ post-positive prepositions,"^' to explain this 
prevaihng structure in expressing the relation of things. It is the 
business of grammar, rightly conducted, to teach, first, the complete 
and undisguised construction of words in a sentence ; and second, 
how far it is allowable to abridge or modify this structure in practice. 

As the term preposition, though not very appropriate, has become 
extensive and famihar in practice, there can be no strong objection 
to the use of the najne, witb the understanding that the words so 
called are not a separate part of speech, but as a subdivision in the 
class of a6[;Vc^i7;es, are partially distinguishable, by the more specific 
local relation which they denote. 

It is not necessary, here, to explain each of these terms, etymo- 
logically, as a word. That will be done in a dictionary. The prin- 
ciple may be exemplified on a single one, and the others, after 
what has already been said, will not, among intelligent persons, pre- 
sent much difficulty in their use. 

The adjective ofovoff/xs a past participle, signifying disjoined^ 
separated, broken asunder, 

A fragment of, or off, a rock. 

It is a fragment, because broken^ and of, or off, for the same rea- 
son. The idea of separation is one of the most extensive in the ope- 
rations of thought. Its modifications are necessarily various. The 
nouns to denote a part, share, abstract, portion, lot, piece, quartei\ 
scrap, and others of like kind, are participial in their formation. 
The 7107m is a relative name,- and the relation^ like every other, 
must have its tit'o sides. The share is the share of, or off, some thing 



136 VERBS. 

that is, the part shared^ sheared, cut, or divided. If we speiik of a share, 
or part, where the separation has not actually taken place, it is be- 
cause the mind, from experience, and familiar habit, runs before the 
action, in the special case. By the same mental operation, also, 
we may suppose a division, where, in practice, it can not be made ; 
as, for instance, to extract all the heat of the Sun, or divide Saturn's 
belt into joar^5. The relative ideas, belonging* to of, or o^, are con- 
nectioiiy on one side, and separation, on the other. The modifica- 
tion of the word off, whicji took place in England about five hun- 
dred years ago, is very convenient in practice, and adds to the ele- 
gance of language. When the intention is more immediately to 
describe the state of being of the off, or se/?ara^ec?, thing, in reference 
to the fact of distance, or separation, the word is written off, and 
more emphatically pronounced. When the mind leans rather to the 
connection, present, former, or merely supposed, the recent word is 
spellr-d of aiid lightly articulated, unless contrasted with some other 
idea, not belonging to its customary associations. 

The wine is drawn off. 

He has sawed the piece off. 

He has it separated by sawing. 

The man is well off. 

He is well separated, from poverty, danger, or other evils, idiom- 
atically understood. 

The man is far off. 

He is far remote, removed, distant, gone, separated, from \\is friends, 
or home, or from the speaker, 

" Off! interjection." — Dr. Johnsos". De-part yourself from me ; 
take yourself off, distant, or away, 

*' Off, preposition, distant from.'' — Db. Johnson. 

He fell 0^ the scaffold ; distant, or separate; an adjective de- 
scribing the object of the verb fell, which is his self; or himself, to 
avoid the unpleasant sound of s in its immediate repetition. 

A true chip of, or off, the old block. 

The chip is the chipped piece, the part detached, by chopping, or 



VERBS. 13rf' 

chipping; Chip was the original verb, and chop was its past tense. 
Both are now in good use in the present tense. 

If the chip did not exist, in supposition at least, it could not be 
named. It could not ex-ist, nor rationally be supposed to exist, un- 
less pro'duced; nor be produced without the requisite means. 
Where, in point of fact, the chip is not cut from the block, the 
int-el-lect must perform that operation, before we can talk about it ; 
and the same dexter-ous mind which, with its ready ax, brings the 
chip into separate ex-istence, as a thin^, also describes it as of or o/' 
the block, from which it is so taken. 

The fragrance o/a rose. 

This expression implies the connection of the fragrance with the 
rose ; but thib fragrance coul<J not be mentioned, or conceived, in 
dis'iinciion from the rose, if the separation, in fact, or in idea, had 
not taken place. So we say " the brightness of the sun," where 
there is the idea that a portion of its brightness is actually separated, 
or thrown off\ but the mind, according to the habits of thought, 
may separate from this orb, all, as well as part, of light, heat, globular 
form, or any thing else connected with it. 

On the same unavoidable principle the mind must ex'tract, or take 
away the hardness of the diamond, or the six sides ofdi cube, in order 
to make any distinctive assertion concerning them. It is to be re- 
membered that the adjectives of this class always denote produced 
relation, and necessarily include the means of production, whether 
that is expressed or not. The chip of the block, is the chipped piece, 
which chip some actor, corporeal or mental, chopped q^ the block. 
The means of production includes an action represented by a verb. 
That verb has an object coming before the adjective which describes 
its new relative character, or state of being. Ihe interposed ad- 
jective, when the relation is specific, refers directly to the object 
before it, and incidentally, datively, or ablntively, to the following 
one. This is the single principle on which all the '^ oblique cases** 
in Latin, Greek, and every other tongue, depend. It is in impor- 
tance second to no other in the science of language, or of thought. 
It belongs, in construction, to every sentence which verbal utter- 
ance can frame. In the hands of those whose leitrning, talents, and 
means, can do justice to its exposition, it will throw great light on 
the course of physical us well as menial, researches; and it will cor- 
rect some of those errors which have misled the men to whose splen- 



138 VER3S. 

did talents human nature is most indebted for its present degree 
of exaltation. 

Over is the comparative degree of the participial adjective of or offy 
spelled as it is pronounced, with the letter /softened into v. The 
thing which is ov-er some thing else, is off-er^ more distant, farther 
off, or projected, from the center of gravity, the position of the speak- 
er, or some other beginning place, from which the offing, or distinct 
position, of the off-set thing is reckoned. 

** Over the brook Kedron.'* Farther distant from Jerusalem. Over 
the top of the house ; farther e-Ievated, from the earth. The rounds of 
a ladder, rise in succession, over each other ; farther se-parated from 
the foundation. The prime associations of high, low, and offing or 
distance, are the relations to the center or surface of the earth. They 
spontaneously arise in the train of thought ; but may receive a spe- 
cific modification by the circumstances of the particular case. 

The adjective of is taken to illustrate, in some degree, the whole 
set of " pi^eposiiions," because it is considered the one most liable to 
objection of any in the list, and most difficult to apply, without a 
previous exemplification. 

After the suggestions here offered respecting the formation of 
adjectives from verbs, to describe the relative effect, general or 
specific, produced by action, the reader will be prepared to test 
the principle by the general list of irregular verbs, as at present 
used in English. 



IRREGULAR VERBS. 





1. Such 


as are not varied for 


tense. 


present 




past 


participial adjective. 


beat 




beat 




beat 


eat 




eat . 




eat 


burst 




burst 




burst 


cast 




cast 




cast 


cost 




cost 




cost 


cut 




cut 




cut 


hurt 




hurt 




hurt 


hit 




hit 




hit 



VERBS, 



139 



knit 

slit 

spit 

split 

let 

put 

rid 

set 

shed 

shred 

shut 

spread 

thrust 

bid 



knit 

slit 

spit 

split 

let 

put 

rid 

set 

shed 

shred 

shut 

spread 

thrust 

bid 



knit 

slit 

spit 

split 

let 

put 

rid 

set 

shed 

shred 

shut 

spread 

thrust 

bid 



2. Such as, in the past tense, change dto t. 



bewd 

lend 

rend 

send 

spend 

wend 



bent 

lent 

rent 

sent 

spent 

went 



bent 

lent 

rent 

sent 

spent 

went 



3. Others change the final edinto t; shorten a pre- 
ceding vowel, or are otherwise modified in the past 
tense. 



creep 


crept 


crept 


keep 


kept 


kept 


sleep 


slept 


slept 


weep 


wept 


wept 


feel 


felt 


felt 


leave 


left 


left 


meet 


met 


met 


hold 


held 


held 


build 


built 


built 


lose 


lost 


lost 


beseech 


besought 


besought 


bring 


brought 


brought 



140 

buy 

fight 

seek 

think 

teach 

bleed 

breed 

feed 

speed 

lead 

read 

flee 

hide 

have 

cling 

fling- 

sling 

sting 

string 

swing 

wring 

ring 

sing 

spring 

swim 

shrink 

sink 

slink 

stink 

stick 

strike 

bind 

find 

grind 

wind 

spin 

win 

sit 

shoe 

shoot 

sell 



VERBS. 




bought 


bought 


fought 


fought 


S0S!.(4'ht 


sought 


thought 


thought 


taught 


taught 


bled 


bled 


bred 


bred 


fed 


fed 


sped 


sped 


led 


led 


read 


read 


fled 


fled 


hid 


hid 


had 


had 


clung 


clung 


flung 


flung 


slung 


slung 


stung 


stung 


strung 


strung 


swung 


swung 


wrung 


wrung 


rung rang 


rung 


sung sang 


sung 


sprung sprang 


sprung 


swum swam 


swum 


shrunk 


shrunk 


sunk 


sunk 


slunk 


siuiik 


stunk 


stunk 


stuck 


stuck 


struck 


struck 


bound 


bound 


found 


found 


ground 


ground 


wound 


wound 


spun 


spun 


won 


won 


sat 


sat 


shod 


shod 


shot 


shot 


sold 


sold 



TERES. 



141 



tell 
get 
make 
stand 



told 
got 
made 
stood 



told 
got 
made 
stood 



Some are made up of different radicals, which have 
been united for the sake of relieving the monotony of 
frequent use. 



am 
go 



was 
went 



been 
gone 



Such as take three different forms from one root. 



be^r 

swear 

tear 

wear 

blow 

grow 

kpow 

throw 

fly 

draw 

see 

begin 

speak 

break 

weave 

arise 

rise 

fall 

steal 

drive 

strive 

smite 

write 

give 

freeze 

forgive 



bore 

swore 

tore 

wore 

blew 

grew 

knew 

threw 

flew 

drew 

saw 

began 

spoke 

broke 

wove 

arose 

rose 

fell 

stole 

drove 

strove 

smote 

wrote 

gave 

froze 

forgave 



born 

sworn 

toi'Vi 

worn 

blown 

grown 

known 

thrown 

flown 

drawn 

seen 

begun 

spoken 

broken 

woven 

arisen 

risen 

fallen 

stolen 

driven 

striven 

smitten 

written 

given 

frozen 

forgiven 



142 



xTERBS. 



forget 

choose 

do 

shake 

take 

lay 

pay 

say 

bite 

hide 

slide 

bid 

abide 

ride 

stride 

lie 

slay 

tread 

come 

run 



forgot 


forgotten 


chose 


chosen 


did 


done 


shook 


shaken 


took 


taken 


laid 


laid 


paid 


paid 


said 


said 


bit 


bit 


hid 


hid 


slid 


slid 


bid bade 


bid 


abode 


abode 


rode 


rode 


strode 


strode 


lay 


lain 


slew 


slain 


trod 


trodden 


came 


come 


ran 


run 



Several of these verbs have additional forms of the 
past tense or participle, still partially retained, but gra- 
dually going out of use, or acquiring a specific appli- 
cation. 

The following were formerly irregular, and are still 
occasionally so used ; but there is a prevailing tenden- 
cy to give them regular endings, and this may be con- 
sidered the best practice. 



awake 

bereave 

catch 

chide 

cleave 

cl; the 

c^row 



awoke 

bereft 

caught 

chid 

clove 

clad 

crew 



awaked 

bereft 

caught 

chidden 

cloven or cleft 

clad 

crowed 



VERBS. 



11. 



dare 
dig 
drink 
dwell 
grave 
baog 
he\¥^ 
lade 
mow 
how 

'OW 

strow 
saw 
rive 
shape 
shave 
shear 
shine 
spill 
swell 
hrive 
wCk 
work 



durst 

dug 

drank 

dwelt 

graved 

hung 

hewed 

laded 

mowed 

showed 

sowed 

strowed 

sawed 

rived 

shaped 

shaved 

sheared 

shone 

spilt 

swelled - 

throve 

waxed 

wrought 



dared 

dug 

drank 

dwelt 

graven 

hung 

hewn 

laden 

mown 

shown 

sown 

strown 

sawn 

riven 

shapen 

shaven 

shorn 

shone 

spilt 

swollen 

thriven 

waxen 

wrcu.^-ht 



JTear, heared, is a /egular verb, though heard is often seen in 
books, and repeated in conversation as if spelled herd. Several of 
the London dictionaries give the noun heard defined as a herd of 
cattle, but the word thus corrupted as p?5t tense of the verb hear is 
not Erglish. Mr. Walker, in the first editions of his dictionan-, 
gave it his sanction in a note ; but he ver}' properly rejected it af- 
terwards ; nnd the best lexicographers in England have for years 
omitted th?5 counterfeit word, leaving the verb hear, like clear, fear, 
rear, sear, shear, smec^, and ether? of its class, to form the recrular 
past tense. 

Beard, pronounced ic> .., ^ '•• "--' '^longing to :b,e En- 

glish language ending in eanL 



If the preceding exposition of verbs is substaritially true, and well 
understood, it prepares the way for a scientific development of mood 
and tejise, yv^^'-^ " '! reconcile all their varying forms in words with 



144 ADVERBS. 

immutable principles founded in the nature of things. The distin- 
guishing of actions by the relations they bear to their causes, is phi- 
losophic, obvious, and common to all languages. To make a con- 
sistcHt division oi moods or tenses^ by the specific meaning of words, 
in their endless variety of combination, as has been so long attempt- 
ed, is beyond humun power. 

The more particular exemplification of moods and tenses is refer- 
red to the practical exercises, which are to follow. 



CHAPTER VII. 



OF THE REMAINING TERMS IN LANGUAGE CALLED 
PARTICLES, CONTRACTIONS, BROKEN WORDS, OR 
ADVERBS. 

The list of these words presents a strangely assorted group, jy^d 
the only thing which appears to belong to them in common is that 
they are all presented under some disguise by which their meaning 
as words was not understood. Being supposed to have no i;.bsolute 
signification, the expounders were easily led to consider them as 
mere connectors, modifiers, or hangers on, to qualify the meaning of 
such words as had a meaning, and a direct apphcalion to actions and 
things. 

The attempted distinction between declinable and indeclinable 
words, as a principle in classing the parts of speech, appears to be 
altogether fallacious. Like every other theory, not founded in 
truth, it is as bad in practice, as in philosophy. Any part of speech is 
indeclinable, when by the frequency ot its use, and the nature of its 
relative bearings, it becomes familiar in its application ; and is de- 
clined V iien its associations are less uniform, or less understood. 
The w(>rd cut^ in its matter of fact use, is known to every boy who 
has w^hitt-led a stick, or cut his finger. 

<• TO CUT, ve-'b neuter. To make its way by dividing obstruc- 
trt)ns.'* — Du. Johnsoit. 



ABV£RBS. 146 

I Qiii aii apple last week ; I cut one now : I haVe cut one ; I have 
t cut and dried ; it is a cut apple ; a cut is made in it. 

The following is Mr. Murray's list of the words which he calls ad- 
verbs, subdivided into eleven sorts, ended with olc, and with the 
farther infornnation that there are many more. Some writers have 
given upwards of seventy kinds of adverbs. 

**Once, twice, thrice, &c. First, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, 
fifthly, lastly, finally. Here, there, where, elsewhere, anywhere, 
somewhere, nowhere, herein, whither, hither, thither, upward, 
downward, forward, backward, whence, hence, thence, whitherso- 
ever. Now, to-day, already, before, lately, yesterday, heretofore., 
hitherto, long since, long ago, &c. To-morrow, not yet, hereafter, 
henceforth, henceforward, by and by, instantly, presently, imme- 
iately, straightways. Oft, often, oft-times, often-times, sometimes, 
soon, seldom, daily, weekly, montlily, yearly, always, when, then, 
ever, never, again, &c. Much, little, sufficiently, how much, how 
great, enough, abundantly, 8vC. Wisely, foolishly, justly, unjustly, 
quickly, slowly. Perhaps, peradventure, possibly, perchance, 
verily, truly, undoubtedly, doubtless, certainly, yea, yes, surely, in- 
deed, really. Nay, no, not, by no means, not at all> in rPB wise, how, 
why, wherefore, whether, more, most, better, best, worse, worst, 
less, least, very, almost, little, ahke, &c.'' 

Mr. Murray says, of these " adverbe^^^ that " they seem originclhj 
:o have been contrived to express, compendiously in one -uord, what 
must otherwise have required two or more.*^ No such thing could ori- 
ginally have seemed; nor could such a plan have been originally con- 
trived. Compendious expressions of several words in one, are not 
contrived in any such way. The plain forefathers of mankind did 
not, with anticipating wisdom, design the refinements of modern lan- 
guage. They did not manufacture words, in large lots, like a tea- 
table set of crockery, to match each other in their after applications. 
The motly assemblage of adverbs are nouns, verbs, and adjectives, 
blended and contracted, in a way which no finite wisdom could have 
foreseen. The words thus formed have been consider'».a in their 
iQdi^m^ ch^ViiCXi^v 2iS subordinate to verbs; hence the nanv.: ad-verb: 
at the same time they are subordinate to adjectives; and while per- 
forming this minor office in two so very different sorts of words, they 
form one, and by no means the least important of the nine distinct 
parts of speech. We are farther told, that though these words per- 

1r» 



146 ADVERBS. 

form very mimeroas other offices, they may be reduced to certaif? 
classes, the chief of which are those of J\''umber, Order, Placcy Timc^ 
Q}ia7fHty, JVIanner^ Quality, Doubt, Affirmation, jVe^ation, Interroga- 
tion, and Comparison, It would perplex a disciple of Linneus to un- 
derstand such a classification: but the classing of things in nature, 
depends on natural principles ; and language, we are told, is ** en« 
lirely conventional and arbitrary," *^ depending altogether on 
custom.'* 

This set of terms can never be comprehended as adverbs. What 
3s said about them Jn grammars only bewilders, and does not give 
any real information. It becomes very important to take up the sub- 
ject in a different light, to examine first the interesting principles 
which form the basis of exposition, and next attend to the proper 
application of the words. 

First, the ^^ manner of action,'^ which is the prime office of the ad- 
verb. On this subject, these who prefer authority to every thing 
else, may have that of an English judge, who, with his accustomed 
elegance and perspicuity, has given, in half a page, more truth and 
more real information, respecting the manner of action, than all the 
expounders of adverbs who ever wielded a pen. 

"When the Supreme Being formed the universe, and created 
matter out of nothing, He impressed certain principles upon that 
matter, from which it can never depart, and without which it would 
cease to be. When He put that matter into motion, He established 
certain latvs of motion, to w-hich all movable bodies must conform. 
And to descend from the greatest operations to the smallest, when 
a workman forms a clock, or other piece of mechanism, he esta- 
blishes, at his own pleasure, certain arbitrary laws for its direction ; 
as that the hand shall describe a given space, in a given time; to 
which law, so long as the work conforms, so long it continues in 
perfection, and answers the end of its formation. 

"If we farther advance from mere inactive matter, to vegetable 
and animal life, we shall find them still governed by laws ; more nu- 
merous indeed, but equally fixed and invariable. The whole pro- 
gress of plants, from the seed to the root, and from thence to the 
seed again ; the method of animal nutrition, digestion, secretion, and 
all other branches of vital econom^y, are not left to chance, or the 
will of the creature itself, but are performed in a wondrous involun- 
tary maimer, and guided by un»^rring rules laid down by the great 



ADVERBS. 147 

Greator/^ Blackst. Com. Sec. If. Of the Nature of Laws in Ge- 
neral. 

In the attempted development of adverbs, and of all other v/ordsj 
It is intended that, as far as circumstances will admit, constant re- 
gard shall be had to the following" considerations : 

1. The principles of natural science on which the phrases depend* 

2. Their connection with the necessary operations of thought. 

3. The prime and essential meaning of the words. 

4. Their elegant modern associations and use. 

The maimer of action^ in every possible case, is to be sought in one 
of three principles. 

1. The miady plan, or intention^ according to which the action is 
designedly performed. 

2. The means or instrumentality employed. 

3. The resulting effect on an object, as distinctively exhibited to 
the senses. 

All kinds, and every circumstance of action, and all differences, 
which, in fact, or in contemplation, can exist between them, must 
be referred to one, or other, of these three classes. What is the 
manner of action by which the earth performs its annual circuit ot 
600,000,000 of miles, and completes the tropical year in 365 days, 5 
hours, 48 minutes, and 49 seconds ? The manner of action is as well 
regulated, in the earthquake and tohirhvind; but, by human obser- 
vers, not quite so well understood. All actions, in the order of na- 
ture, are the same thing : whether in the boundless machine of inter-^ 
volving worlds, or the microscopic fiber in a mulberry leaf, the man- 
ner of action is the -wisdom of that Eternal MIND, which pervades^ 
directs, and governs all. So far as man acts according to the organi- 
zation of his nature, his manner of action^ in common with that of 
other things, comes under the first great law : and, within the sphere 
of his judgment and free will, it is merely the substitution of the hu- 
man, for the unerring MIND. 

Let us suppose a man arraigned before a court, to be tried for kill 
ing an other. This is a case where, in practice, it becomes necessa- 
ry to institute the most rigid inquiry concerning the manner of action^ 
on physical, moral, and legal principles. 

The prime question, as all the books, and the judges will tell us, 
is, TVith -what mind was this action done ? Was it with a deliberately 
-Of icked intention; by a sudden start of passion; a mere want of tb^ 



146 ADVERBS. 

caj^e; or without any design at all? In the second place what intiVh- 
ment did he employ? was it a club^ an ax, dagger, or deadly -iveapon 
of any kind? Third, what was the nature of the tvouiid or hurt pro 
duced ? 

No human skill can, in any language, devise a word, to denote ant? 
thing concerning the manner of action, except in conformity with 
these principles. If the reference is to the mind, or the instrument 
then the ** adverb'' is a noun; if the ej^ect is referred to, this " ad- 
verb'' is an adjective, describing the object, as affected by the action, 
and always in relation to some other standard perception, with whicli 
the object thus conditioned is compared. 

In the second place, we may consider the " adverbs of quality." A 
recurrence to adjectives will show what this quality is made of. The 
standing example which Mr. Murray employs to show the nature of 
an ad-verb, as prefixed to an adjective, to qualify its quality, is, " A 
'vuly good man." Most of the adjectives, and a large portion of the 
louns in the language, may be used as adverbs expressing the de^^ 
gree of quality, in the same way. The easiest understood explana 
'\f^n will be by parallel exampleSo 

A truly good man. 
The true Cornish dialect. 
A ^*oo J hearted man. 
Highland Scotch sailorSo 
A pure gold ring. 
The finest wooled sheep 
A snoivy white robe. 
A shaggy haired dog. 
>, -DoM^/e refracting crystals. 
General election dinners. 
Oo/J headed cane. 
Longest lived animals. 
Russia iron cables. 
Meal diamond ear rings. 
Hardest working people. 
£rtr/z^ morning air. 
Deepest crimson gauze. 
Oldest commissioned officerb. 
Winter evening stories. 
Benevolent intentioned copyists 
J\'*ight blooming flowers. 
Alum drest buffalo skin robes. 
Finest merino wool blankets. 
Real tortoise shell combs. 
Brightest pink colored morocco slioes> 



ADVERBS, 149 

Dark ag-e technical theory Inculcation. 

Complete nominal quality adverbs. 

Thorough going qualifying quality instruction. 

The mistake in the whole doctrine of quality was alluded to be- 
fore : yet adverbs, without naming things^ or expressing' the effect of 
actions, " qualify** the ** qualities*' which adjectives denote. This 
niay do very well for neuter technicality; but, m practice, the reader 
will probably agree, that it is rather difficult to take the second step, 
while it remains impossible to accomplish the first. 

Our college theory of speech, whether in the learned languages^ 
or the vulgar tongue, is a curious display of the science of mind. 
The quality of a quality and the manner of action, are so very differ- 
ent from each other, that if the words which denote them both were 
any thjng but adverbs, they certainly could not belong to the 
same part of speech. We might, with as much propriety, repre- 
sent humbirds and elephants as belonging to the same kind of ani- 
mals : but, if we admit adverbs at all, it follows, of course, that, ex- 
cept denoting things, relations, or actions, they can, under some of 
their seventy characters, perform one office as well as an other. It 
would be improper, therefore, to object to any classificatiou 
which this kind of technicality is supposed to require. As adverbs 
are the drudging dependants of all parts of speech, their contrac- 
tions need create no surprise ; for why should they not grow thin, 
when put to such hard service. 

A large proportion of the words called adverbs are formed by 
adding ly to an other word. They have been represented as vw- 
difyinghoth adjectives and verbs. The syllable ly is from the same 
root, and means the same as the adjective like. The word so com- 
pounded is an adjective, describing the odject of a verb, in reference 
to some resemblance which it acquires or holds, from the effect of 
the action. It may also be made a secondary adjective by use, ac- 
cording to the general principles before explained. The word like, 
:s a compound 7zo7/7i. This is not the place for the long train of its 
etymology, and the interesting principles, in matter, mind, and so- 
dal intercourse, with which it stands connected. The noun like, m 
ts primary application, is body. In its first extension, it is image, 
r€se:.iblance, picture, representation. " Every like is not the same.*- 
" We never shall look on his like again." The verb to like, or to 
Uken, is to re-sem-ble one thing to an other ; to bring it into con- 
form-ity, or similitude ; to adapt a thing, or ac-com-ir.f^date one's stlfj 

13^ 



150 ADVERBS*- 

to some thing else ; to cause to a-gree. The participial adjective 
like^ is likened; and ly is a mere contraction of the same word. 
JUan-ly, or man-like^ is man resembled. Wedge-like, is "wedge-shaped , 
or cunei-form. '^ 

The resemblance denoted by /?/, or like, may be close, or very re- 
mote. There is no rule for using", or omitting, this -word, or syllable. 
It is entirely a question of fact, determined by fashion and good 
taste. The difference exists not only between verbs of like mean- 
ing, used in a similar way ; but in cases where the same verb stands 
In ihe same construction. It is worthy of remark, likewise, that the 
verbs called neuter^ all take the words which are said to express 
the manner of action, in like manner as the acknowledged active 
verbs, so that if the neuter verb theory was true, there would be 
manner of action where there was no action, 

lAve-ly^ or quick-ly, is life-like. The steam boat made its passage 
very rapid-ly. Like a rapid, a quick, or quickly t running place, in a 
stream. This post-fix ly, according to the artificial systems of gram- 
mar, without definition of its own, has a magical effect on other 
words. At the same time it qualifies the quality of adjectives, it ex- 
presses the manner of transitive, and of intransitive^ action ; the 
manner of passion; and the manner of a ^^ condition of being. ^^ 

The man sleeps soundly. 

She sits genteelly or perfectly -well. 

She sits idle and contented. 

She remains quiet and undisturbed^ 

She lives contented and happy. 

She YwQS virtuously ViXid. happily. 

The new house is finished elegantly. 

It is made elegant. 

It is rendered elegant. 

It appears elegant or splendid. 

It looks ivell or elegantly. 

It looks neat and substantial 

It sliows tvell or superbly. 

Exercise cures the patient completely. 
It makes him completely tvelL 
It makes his cure complete. 
It effects his cure completely, 
; It renders his cure effectual. 



ADVERBS. 151 

The best practical exemplification of the adjective Uhei and its 
ontraction ly, is in its compounding with itself. Like^ and its re= 
duplication, likelvy are, in all the principal English dictionaries, de = 
fined, both as adjectives^ and adverbs^ and both with the same mean- 
ing in each case : so that the weight of authority, when properly 
examined, shows that the addition of ly to an other adjective, does 
not make a different part of speech. The keen logic of nature, 
which goes far beyond conventional neutrality, makes a distinction 
true to the essential meaning, and the real principle. AVhere the 
likeness of one substance to an other is obvious to the sense, the^sin- 
gle adjective is used to express the direct resemblance, as exhibit- 
ed : but if we contemplate a transaction, as very like-ly to happem 
it is not the image of one corporeal substance, likened to an other. 
The adjective is therefore let down to the second degree of simili- 
tude, the mental or supposed resemblance, founded on the principles 
of analogy to material bodies. Like^ therefore, has its application to 
similitude directly obvious, and likely to that which resembles a like- 
less, or which is applied by analogical inference. 

In the third place, words called " adverbs of time. *' 

Every intelligible communication respecting tiine ii'hen, or ho-of, 
long, must include a noun, and one or more adjectives, expressed or 
understood. 

Time is not made. of any thing absolute or essential. It floats on 
the successively changing relations of tilings, and affords no object 
of perception to which a name can be absolutely applied. The 
manifestation, taken as the point or duration of time, must be some 
standard appearance, with which others in the measurable order of 
events may be compared. 

The essential meaning of the word time, is periodical or alter- 
nate change; tremulous or vibratory motion. The Greek verb to 
fear, the English word timid, and many others, are founded on the 
-ame idea. It is xvavering, trembling, or vacillation, as the indica- 
'.Ion o\' fear. In most of the northern languages, of Europe, the 
Vvord tide is titne \ that is, the regular alternations in the ebbing and 
flowing of the sea. 

The tiine when any transaction took place, was when some known 
object of perception, in the definable periods of lis changing states, ex- 
hibited a standard appearance, capable of being taken as a point or 
■'leasure, in comparison with other successive events. To pcitit out 



152 ADVERBS. 

any time, either in reference to its epoch or duratiotiy must necessari- 
ly be to 7iame the standard appearance, to identify it by an adjec- 
tive, and to denote its relation to the event with which it is com- 
pared : for as the appearance denoting the time is never absolute, it 
must have its correlative circumstances, either described, or under^ 
stood, by previous familiar association. 

• It does not consist with the plan of this work to go into systematic 
detail on the words denoting time. The time luhen Ruth returned to 
her friends, was ^^ in the barley harvest:^' not in the "season of 
snows;" not in the s/>r/?2^ season, when the plants spring from the 
earth, nor that in which the leaves /a// from the trees : it was not in 
the rain month, nor the " month ofjlo-wers;^^ not in the hay moon; but 
in the harvest month, and next preceding the fruit mooning — ?noneth, 
or month. 

The noun day is, in its primary idea, the darting^ or throwing out 
the beams of hght ; and the nig-ardly, neg-ht^ or nig-ht, is the neg-a- 
tion, noug'ht, nihil-ityy or an-nihil-ation of the light, 

All which can properly be called science is true to nature ; and 
language, when rightly understood, is always in accordance with 
both. 

" Every different degree of light makes the object have a differ- 
ent appearance, and total darkness takes away all appearance.^* 

Dr. Reih. 

The "substantive," niglit, is the German /* adverb," 7iol ; and 
under various modifications, the same 7vord may be traced, thro the 
different languages, ancient and modern, from the river Ganges to 
Iceland. 

J^oon is non, or none ; the place of beginning, at which nothing is 
reckoned ; because the sun has made no departure from it. .The 
noon time, or noon tide, is when the sun is at t\\e first meridian, indi- 
cated, in the practical science of astronomy, by a cipher, or nought, 

" To day" is this day, contracted in pronunciation, and afterwards 
followed in spelling, when carelessly and familiarly used. In ex- 
pressions of particular dignity, and sublimity, the correct scholarship 
should be preserved. *' This day shalt thou be with me in Para- 
dise." Morning is contracted from morrow-ning, and morrow is an 
opening, dawnitig or next coming day. The phrase, on the morrow, 
is, in the shortened expression, to-morrow, and by ordinary speakers 
uttered as if written t^ morrow. Yester-day is the past or gone, the 
earlier, or, as the Hollanders appropriately call it, the foreleading 



ADVERBS. loo 

daif, taking the present condition of the intelligent beings concerned, 
as the standard, in the com-parative reference to preceding or after 
events. 

Having offered these suggestions, respecting the principles, in 
nature and in thought, with which the leading "kinds of adverbs'* 
stand connected, it remains to attempt an explanation of the words, 
which, having never been defined, are found to present the greatest 
difficulty in their application. 

As it is considered the prominent characteristic of " adverbs'' to 
•'modify verbs,'* it seems proper to begin with the terms which are 
supposed to be particularly confined to this office in language. 

The words hoio and mode, or mood, are nouns of participial forma- 
tion, and names of the mind. Wise is also a participial noun, and 
means the ivisdom, -wit, or knoivledge, existing in the mind; the plan, 
design, calculation, or device, formed by that mental intelligence. The 
word hoiv is very familiar in its contracted form, that is, without the 
associated words. 

" Hoiv was the action done ?" 

In wliat mode, mood, mind, or -wise, was it done ? "With what mind, or 
intention, was it done ? According to what mind, plan, design, or 
purpose was it ? By what -wisdom, skill, or knoivledge, was the per^ 
formance regulated, or directed ? 

The noun home, in its ordinary modern use, will exemplify this 
kind of famiHar adverbial contraction. 

He is at (his; home. He went (to his) home. He left (his) home, 
** He is gone to his long home,^* In this latter expression, the omis- 
sion practised in common social intercourse would not suit the na- 
ture of the assertion, and it becomes necessary to use the associa- 
ted words. 

Manner is a compound word, and in its exact analysis, signifies 
iiand -work, that is, the abiUity, dexter-ity, or habit-ual skill of the 
htnds in the performance of an action. Like other words it readily 
extends to other equivalent instrumeiitalicy. The word man-age- 
7aent is nearly synonymous with manner, and translated into undis- 
guised English, is hand-act-ing. By a very easy transition, also, ac- 
cording to the general philosophic principles of action, explained 
under the verb, the instrument becomes the operator, or imme- 
diate cause of the performance, ffoio many hands does the ahoe« 



154 ADVERBS. 

mahev employ in his mami-ftxcinvy ? Tliat is, how many 'worh7neii> 
does he employ ? The word how is very often a se-ondavij adjec- 
tive, as it is used in the two preceding questions. 

Why^ formerly written qui^ qua, qu?e, and various other forms, 
is ivhat, with the associated words, for ivhat reason ? from tvhai 
cause ? with -what design ? 

It some times happens that a number of the words called adverbs 
come together ; as, 

Have you learned your lesson ? 

Ans. JVot yet quite tv ell enough^ perhaps. 

It probably will not be necessary to dwell on the philosophy of 
the remaining kinds of adverbs. It is said that ** An adverb is a 
part of speech joined to a verb, an adjective, or to an other adverb, 
to express some qtiality or circumstance respecting it." We are 
not told of any "adverb" in the case absolute or independent^ and 
. therefore are to understand, that adverbs take the apphcation which 
the grammatical theory contemplates. Adopting these definitions, 
then, and applying them on logical and algebraic principles, the 
^* adverb of quantity," if made secondary to the verbt expresses the 
quantity of an action, of a suffering; or of a state of existence : if 
"joined to an adjective" it is to express the quantity of a quality ; 
and joined to an other adverb, it denotes the quantity of a circum- 
sta7ice. In like manner an " adverb of doubt," according to its 
three kinds of application, is, first, the doubtful modification of act- 
ing, or suffering, or of existence ; second, the qualifying doubt of a 
quality ; SiXidf third, the subordinate circumstantial doubt of o, cir- 
cumstance. 

The noun worth is an instance of the kind of contraction which 
takes place by dropping associated words. It has been a source of 
much perplexity in the schools. " The horse is worth a hundred 
dollars." Of the worth of a hundred dollars. The word 0/ coming 
before and after the noun worth, makes the expression too clumsy 
for repetition in familiar use, and where no important distinction re- 
quires it. 

Always, contraction for in all ways ; in all modes, and by slight 
incidental variation, at all times : for whatever passes thro all suc- 
cessive manners or ways of action or " being," must endure thro 
all times. In the national idioms, therefore, which vary this " ad- 



ADVERBS. loD 

rerd/" to all-dai/s, all'time, and others, the dlfFerence is only in the 
appearance. 

^Is, This may be considered the most difficult word in the lan- 
guage, to explain in the various elliptical forms in v/hich it is used. 
In its logical apphcation it points out the identity of a general fact, 
thing, or circumstance, in comparison with a connected fact or pro- 
position. To give its extensive etymology would be a show of learn- 
ing easily made; but to no useful purpose. In grammatical char- 
acter, this word in its modern use is an adjective referring to the 
Tioxinfact, thingi i^ay^ hlnd^ degree^ reason, or other equivalent word ; 
but, having a second reference to a proposition, for which the single 
word is the summary name. As signifies, as a defining adjective, 
this^ that, these, the same, the said, with the noun understood after it. 
Such men as Cesar was : the same (kind) Cesar was. He believes 
as Lilly taught : the same (thing) Lilly taught. I will go as far as 
you will : the same degree far, the same (degree) you will. The 
v/ater is as cold as ice : the same degree cold ; to, or in, the same 
(degree.) It rains ; and, as that is the case, I must stay at home: 
and, for the same (fact, reason, or thing,") I must stay at home. He 
went home, as he found it difficult to remain longer : for that (rea- 
son), he found it difficult. 

So, formerly written sa, sua, and s-wa, is an adjective, nearly 
5)ynonymous with as, and the words may be substituted for each 
other, in frequent instances. They would have it so : have it that 
'way). AU-so, all the same (thing); all in the same (way). 

And is a participial adjective, from a verb signifying to join. It 
IS a modification of the same word as the number owe. John, James, 
united, go to school. John, James, to-geiher-ed, or gathered to each 
other, go to school. John, James, Peter, connected, joined, unitedy 
onedy and, go to school. John united Peter, go ; John and Peter 
go. Tiie peculiarity in the modern use of the adjective and, is that 
fashion has conveniently placed it between the things whic:i it de- 
scribes as being united, instead of setting it before or after them all. 
The eminent Home Tooke developed the etymon of this word ; 
but with his transcendant vigor of intellect, the defectiveness of his 
plan led him to mistake its grammatical and philosophic application. 

First IS farest, or fore-est ; and last is contracted of latest : the 
time or thing which lags most behind. 

Ever. In the earliest languages of which alphabetic writing re- 
mains, the essential meaning of this word is life. By an easy transi- 
tion, it became the period, or measure of life, that is, an age; and, 



156 ADVERBS. 

tver {during the ages) since the time of the Romans, this meaning 
has been preserved. It does not appear to have, ever, (in any age) 
been changed. "For ever-.^^ (for ages.) "For ever and everi^^ 
(for ages and ages.) Ages of ages, is the idiom, in most known 
tongues. Like other words in the same famihar use, it is mechani- 
cally and habitually transmitted thro the social intercourse of life, 
without the proper consciousness of its import. The whole mass 
of society acquire the habit of taking phrases all together, without 
attempting to analyze, or assign to each word, its due share ; and 
the same familiarity which causes the unemphatic associated words, 
when pronounced, to be uttered witti a lightness and rapidity, intel- 
ligible only to an accustomed ear, by a slight extension, enables the 
hearer to supply them for himself, when wholly omitted. This is 
the principle which explains a large portion of the adverbial con- 
tractions ; or rather the whole of those made by dropping associated 
words. 

Ever is a noun, singular, or plural, used to denote time ivhen, or 
fioxv long ; and is to be parsed by supplying such adjectives as the 
sense of the phrase requires. 

j\''ever is ne ever ; in 710 age ; at no period or time. 

Here, there, -where. These are compound words, each made of an 
adjective and noun. The latter part of each is the word which we 
now write, area. It is an enclosed yard, or any surface, open, but 
circumscribed \\\ its dimensions. It becomes extended, on the ordi- 
nary principles of analogy, to ^ny place, condition, or state, real or 
imaginary, which can be designated ov pro-posed, in the comparison 
with other things. 

There is the, or that, area. He left there, yester day. He left that 
area, ov place. He went there : to that position. He stayed there.- 
at, or in, that place. The idea or explanation is precisely there : in 
that condition, or state. 

Where, is ivhich, or xvhat, area. He went where he pleased : to 
tiihat place. Jiny tuhere : in any (the) place. The defining adjec- 
tive contained in the word -where, is jn this instance superfluous ; but 
the redundancy does not appear as aukwardness ; because, with- 
out a rigid investigation, it is not perceived, and both words in the 
compound being reduced to one syllable, no farther contraction can 
be made. 

Here. The prefix to this word is a former acf-jective, meaning the, 
fh'Sf or that .* but which, for more than seven hundred years, has 



ADVllRBS. 157 

been disused in England. He departed from Aenr, last week : from 
this place. He lives here : fn the described village, teivnship^ or city. 
We rest these observations here: at this position of them. 

For. This is one of the many important and difficult words in 
language, all attempts to explain which, have hitherto failed. The 
master etymologist, before referred to, says that it has the same mean- 
ing as cause: but this only brings us to the material question, what 
does either word mean ; for all which is said about them in dictiona- 
ries, will not make any person, in reality, wiser than he was before. 
This " substantive^*' cause, by the least action upon it, turns into 
effect ; and there is no stopping place, or line of demarcation be- 
tween them. 

It has before been said that there is but one independent Cause ; 
that all created things are a series of causes and effects, existing as 
mere relations; and that, in every definite or possible cojiception, re- 
specting a cause, the idea is inferentiaJ, the noun is only a relative 
namey and it is, from the unavoidable necessity of the case, a deri- 
vative toord. This term cause, can have no exemption from a prin- 
ciple which is essential to its class. To explain the word/o?', in its 
important bearings, it is proper to begin ; not, 

4thly. In modern /(;5A/'o7i, with compilers of grammars ; nor 
3dly. In mere verbal etymology, with Tooke and others ; nor 
2dly. In metaphysics, with Aristotle, Locke, and a host of splendid 
men, who spent their lives in prying at the treasures of intellect, 
without a fulcrum for their levers ; but 

First ; in the science of nature, as instituted by that Wisdom 
which never errs, never falls short, never changes its " customs,*' 
nor controverts one fact by an other. Language, as existing m these 
principles, will not be the subject of dispute, when once explained, 
and will have no exceptions to its rules. 

That unsee7i, and unian^ible, thing, which is termed a cause, is in- 
ferred to be such, for the reason that an ej/eci takes place, which we 
have learned from experience to understand, must have a cause, 
and that no other thing in connection with the result produced, is so 
probably efficient. The writers on the science of sciences may have, 
from nature, the demonstrative lesson, to begin with, that every 
na772e of a cause, actor, or contriver, as such; of the miw J and its 
" qualities ;" of the Deity and his attributes ,• is a derivative or com' 
pound word ; no matter with what utterance, in what form, or under 
what mistaken exposition, modern fashion may employ the term. 
Each sublunary cause turns into e^ec^. The/>ro^wc/io?i of this 

14 



jo8 ADVERBS. 

instant, or year, becomes the producer of tbe next. Every causa 
iive wfinence is but the effect of a previous agency. The thing 
which acts^ or operates^ does so, because it has, collected or reposited 
within it, the enlightening or reason, \\i& force or vigor, the strength 
or adjustment of cords, the power or solidity, to produce such re- 
fiu/^ It is because it is pre-pared, fitted, adapted, enlivened, qualified, 
cr nnade 7f2se, skilful, stdtable, adequate, and proper, to produce the 
effect. If we ascend the graduated scale of ^dn^ or acting, to the 
First Cause, then, so fiu* as language, or the laws of thought, on 
nfl^z^rcf/ principles, are concerned, the mind turns back on itself, 
and from comparison, and former habit, infers a Deity, by withdraw- 
ing all restriction, error, or defect, as contemplated in created things : 
for, according to the light of nature, this Cause must be adequate 
to the production of effects, innumerable, endlessly varied, and in- 
conceivably stupendous. 

Cause and effect are convertible terms ; every secondary cause is 
itself caused, effected, or produced ; and to effect a cause, is to cause 
an effect. 

For and force are modifications of one ivord, found in the lan- 
guages of northern and of southern Europe, as far back as letter wri- 
ting can be traced. Numerous collateral branches of the same 
etymon, are distributed thro the various modern tongues. The rea- 
son, for, force, power or impelling cause, where-ybr an effect takes 
place, is the accumulation of knowledge, skill, vigor, life, or activity, 
in which the action has its spring. 

It v/ill be found, then, that this transmissible force has no appro- 
priate habitation, or resting place. It pervades all bodies, without 
being detected in any, except by the results which follov/ its opera- 
tions. That versatile ihi?ig, which was cause in the agent, is trans- 
formed into acting, in the verb, and effect in the recipient of the ac- 
tion-, as the xvheat put into the hopper, comes out^07/r, in the trough 
below. The name of a cause, therefore, in its distinctive character, 
"as SLich, can never be the object of a varb. Those who strongly feel 
for the advancement of science, may look back with regret to the 
extent of error into which the most gifted of tlie human fiimily have 
been led, by employing these words as arbitrary signs, while overlook- 
ing the extremely important natural principles to which they apply. 

It may seem at first view, an extravagant paradox in language, 
that the word cause does not m«an cause. Nothing is more clear, 
however, as every expert linguist noust see at once, than that the 
w^rd cause, as direct, or incidental, object of a verb, stands in the re- 



ADVERBS. 159 

diilon of effecty instead of cause. It does, in point of fact, cease td 
represent the idea of a cause^ as hitherto explained by the writers 

on fiatural 3ind menial science, thro tlie learned world. When it is- 
found that a word of such importance, and generally supposed to be 
well understood, fails, in half its uses, to mean its oivn meaning, it is 
lime to sci-utinize, very closely, that principle of matter and of mind, 
which Cixn produce such an effect on a recipient, or passive, cause. 

It has before been said that the cause of all material operations, is 
0:!JE ; the sole Cause, who is not caused; the Divine Author, acting- 
thro the wiiole. The all pervading principle of activity, in its essen- 
tial Tiature, human science has notyetmxQniQd instruments to we.igh, 
to measure, or inspect. Vihs^i pliilosophy can know of any cause, is 
learned from its observable effects on matenal bodies. This causing- 
principle, force, or activity, is really cause, in its general relation, as 
producing a perpetual succession of effects: but our views^of it are 
partial and inferential, as it is received, ov communicated, b\ different 
material bodies, thro which it is transmitted. When we conceive the 
idea of this active principle, cause, ov force, as a something striking, 
and influencing, a natural body, this idea comes under the explan:;- 
tion of tlie word cause: but wiien the same force, or inter-comnmn".- 
cated acting principle, is, according to the general understanding of 
mankind, forced or imparted, from one ma^s of matter to an other, 
this same general cause, or a conceived portion of it, takes the char- 
acter of an effect, in the specific relative connection in which it is pre- 
sented : but so beautifully and sublimely is language conformed to 
the all governing la-ws, that each icord applicable to this case is mo- 
dified and adapted, in its relative bearings, to the special fact, while 
its broader meaning, and rules of construction, are exactly accordant 
with the sublimest principles which an omnipotent Cause, acting 
thro the universe, offers to philosophic contemplation. 

The language being understood, the seeming contradiction is re- 
conciled : it is found, here, as elsewhere, that Divinely regulated 
opposition produces harmony, and " All nature's discord makes al 
nature's peace.'* 

The application of these principles, in their grammatical construc- 
tion, may be seen in the use of the words, 
1st. The word /or, as a •'* conJunc:ion,'' 

1. "I submitted; (for) it was vain to resist." 

2. We ran ; (for) a superior foe was near. 



l60 ADVERBS. 

3. I can not call words conjunctives; {for) explanation is better 
than such a substitute. 

In the preceding sentences, the noun /or is used without the as- 
sociated words, as their ideas are understood by familiar habit. 

1. I submitted; (the /or, the ^ffaso7^, which induced me to sub- 
mit, was,) it was vain to resist. 

2. We ran; (the /or, the impelling cause which forced us to run, 
was,) a supeHor foe ivas near, 

3. I ca7i not call words conjunctives ; (the/or, ihe force of convic- 
tion, the restraining/or, or cause, which prevents such practice, is) 
that arbitrary nam t would be a miserable substitute for explanation, 

2d. Arguments would be superfluousto prove again that the speci- 
fic relation of any thing to a cause, or to an effect, must be 9i produced 
relation; and with the proper understanding of this principle, as be- 
longing equally to the science of ^natter and of thought, there i^ no 
need of etymology, in the first place, to tell us that the preposition 
for, is, by formation^ a past participle, and, as a part of speech, an ad- 
jective, describing Xhe, object of a verb, in the ^* condition of being,'' in 
which an action has placed it. 

The crown was made expressly /or the king, 
1 he tailor made the coat/yr the man. 

He made the coat, adapted, prepared, adjusted, fttedt suited, (to) 
the man. 

Whether the word to is to be used, or omitted, after adjectives of 
this kind, depends partly on the special nature of the related things, 
but chiefly on familiar habit in the use of the expression. Still more 
is to be allowed for the degree of accuracy in the iinov/ledge of the 
relations signified. Thus we say opposite (to), up (to), in (to), near 
(to), on (to), like (to), and a muhitude of combinations with other 
words of this kind, which it is needless to repeat. The meaning of 
/or, when understood, shows why this word has been so obstinately 
preserved by the mass of English people, before the infinitive verb, 
long after thut use had been declared inelegant by polite scholars. 

He was ready (for) to go. He made the watch (for) to keep time : 
suited, adapted, prepared, forced, to go, or to keep time. For the 
same reason the correspondent word is retained by several European 
nations, in elegant modern use, as a concgmitant of the infinitive 
mood. 



ADVERBS. 161 

Bfi-eaute. This ** adverb,** or ** eonjunetive,^ is merely two unal- 
tered words put together. Bc^ is a verb, in the indicative mood, 
present tense, used in place (rf 15; which latter word chiefly pre- 
vails in modem practice. This use of the verb be, in the indicative 
mood, is now somewhat unftuhionable; but not obsolete. *• These be 
the heads of their father's hoases." What be these two olire 
trees ? " Few there be," " Many tkere be ;" « The powers that be;** 
** If our definition of the verb be correct." — Jfurrau. ^l be here." 
Where ^you ? "If thou be-est he/' — wMilton, The parts of gram- 
mar be four. Orthography, &c. — ^fartin^ " On Grammar and Lan- 
g;aag'e,*' London, \776, *' They that be whole need not a physician, 
but they that are sick." Whether they be good, or whether they 
be bad. " U there be any among you." " For we be bretliren." 
•* If I am right, thy grace impart." 
" if I am wrong, O teach my heart." — Fope. 

Uany writers, not particularly inelegant, in other respects, still, 
following the ancient practice, prefer be, to am, in expressions like 
the above. 

Be-catue ; there be cause; there is cause.- the cause be; the 
cause is : be cause of unbelief: there be, or there is, the cause of 
unbelief. This statement may be depended on, because, it is true : 
the Cause be, or is, the statement is true. 

The compilers of grammar have supposed that the word be, after 
if, had something peculiar in its character, under the name of the 
subjunctive mood; but that those who copy such opinions from 
each other, are not to be depended on in their expositions, is seen 
by reference to >£atthew, xv. 14, and a multitude of other authori- 
ties, which it is needless to adduce. 

Kven. This word is by formation a past participle, and an ad- 
jective, as a part of speech. It describes something as being eveny 
or e-oenetl, with some thing else; and commonly, in what is consid- 
ered the adverbial use of the word, the ei?en thing is evened witli 
some degree, poiiUon, or state, supposed, or with some definite time. 
There is frequently an omission of several words, the ideas for which 
are supplied by the familiar tr^in of thought. This practice was 
so formerly, and it is so even now : the practice, evetied wilb> o:^ 
brcvghtw^ to, Xhe present time^ remains so. 

Platina is even heavier than g-old. It is evened with, op e^joUed 
.a specific gravity, heavier than gold. 

14* 



162 ADVERBS. 

Indeed; in very deed. Call the words any thing, but adverbs, 
and they need no explanation. 

-J\'ow, is an adjective, and a trifling modification of the vfov^neio. 
It refers to the word /t/ne, understood. The new timey or now time. 
The perfection of newness^ in any thing, is tliat \\.s Jinishiug period 
shall precisely reach \\\q preseiit time. The adjective of specific re- 
lation must be supplied, where the sense requires it. 

J^ay^ noy not : these terms have come from different languages. 
JVay^ is contracted of the old French, or Norman, ne ay^ or ne ayes, 
have not, as explained under the verb yes, 

JVo, is an adjective ; and when the noun to which it refers, is not 
expressed, it is understood in construction. In answer to a question, 
it is the single word, used in the stead of a whole proposition ; be- 
cause it is the term, on which, as connected with the question, the 
entire answer, if expressed, would turn. Will you agree to go with 
me ? JVo : that is, I make no such agreement, I agree to no such 
thing. I have no intention to go. This response no, like its antago- 
nist, yes, is proper only when the interrogation is so formed as to re- 
duce the answer required to a single point. Will you go to-day; or 
io-morroiv ? JVo, This word no, as used here, is not appropriate : 
it should be the adjective neither. That is, 1 shall neither go to-day, 
nor to-morrow. I shall go on neither of the days. Shape the 
phraseology of this answer as we please, the word neither, or not 
either, must come into it. " This distributive adjective pronoun^^^ 
then, is just the same kind of ^^ negative adverb,'^ as the adjective 
no. If the person to whom the question is addressed, says, *' both,*' 
this word is an ^^ adverb of affirmation^*' on precisely the same prin- 
ciple as before. With these few guiding hints, every person of 
good talents can increase the illustrations to any requisite extent for 
himself. 

J\^ut, is a common noun, and a modification o^ nought. It is of great 
importance, and from its frequent repetitions, became in part of 
its uses, contracted in pronunciation, and afterwards in spelling, 
conformed to the utterance. To call it a " negative adverb** is a 
total mistake of the meaning of the word, and of the principles with 
which it stands connected. Many writers of eminence, and whose 
works have had extensive influence thro the learned world, have 
treated what they call positives and negatives^ as fundamental princi- 
ples, in reasoning. There are, probably, very ^itw erroneous as- 
sumptions which have had greater sway than this, in misleading the 
mind of man, respecting its own exercises and powers. 



ADVERBS. 163 

J^Qti is the name of a thing / and so far as any essential meaning or 
pnnciple is concerned, is no more negative, than house, tree, valley, 
cave, or any thing else : nor is any -word, or assertion, in any language, 
more positive, or negative, than an other. Before any person objects 
to this word, that it is not applied as the nanne of a " substance," let 
him take a little pains to observe what proportion of nouns, if a di- 
vision should be made on this principle, must leave the " substantive** 
side, in his long list. 

If that unsubstantial something, called a nothing, did not ex-ist 
with its distinctive character, and means of perception, its idea could 
not exist in the mind, nor stand defined in our dictionaries as " a 
mental image," a picture, or representation of nought, or nothing. If 
the word not, or nought, has either meaning or use, there must be 
some definite means of perception, by which it acquired that mean- 
ing, and by which, as a common standard of intelligence, it is trans- 
mitted, in sociallife. There must be some way to make the nothing, 
or it could not exist, nor have its likeness depicted. The only way 
to obtain the definite knowledge of any sign, is to learn its applica- 
tion to the thing which it signifies. This principle applies with equal 
force to the nothing, and to all other things. The noun invisibility, 
or vacancy, is as good a noun, and name of a thing, as any other. 
What is a hole thro a board, or a gap in a fence ? Could there be 
such gap, if there was not Si fence at each side of the gap. What is 
the presentation to the senses, and what the perception drawn from 
it ? The fence belongs together^ and some agency has gaped, or 
gapped, it ; made a. gap^ oy gapped place in it. This gap has its di- 
mensions, and its distinctive perception, in comparison with its bound- 
ing substance, as a materialbody nas when encompassed by seeming 
vacuity. The way to make a nothing, is to set up something; to grow 
familiar with it, as occupying any assignable locality,- and then knock 
it away. Tht percepti§7i is the contrast; ihQ vacuity, the nought, 
the knock-ed aivay thing. 

It is proper here to examine, for a moment, a philosophic prin- 
ciple, which, in its misapplication, appears to have been connected 
with a vast extent of false reasoning, from the time of the Grecian 
schools, to colleges and judgment seats at the present day. 

The reader will recollect that the general design, of which this 
work forms a part, is to show, that the system of exposition in lan- 
guage, as taught thro the civilized world, is extravagantly wrong; 
not merely in its incomprehensible, and ever disputed specialties; 
but in its entire structure, and the foundation on which it is built. 



164 ADVERBS. 

Language Is not "fomided^* on " atstonif'' or ^^ general practice " as 
we have been so often and so erroneously told. Human wisdom 
could never discover order, nor draw its boundary lines, thro the 
moving chaos of words, on the plan so long, so ably, and so fruitlessly 
attempted. 

No theory of speech can be otherwise than bad, if it does not ac- 
cord with demonstrative science, which *^ changing fashion'* can not 
change. The question of positive and negative, is not one which 
grammar \s pHmarily to explain. What is a negative term, or negative 
quantity in algebra. Can it exist, or is it negative, except merely in its 
relation^ as set off against a positive of equal, or greater amount ? Any 
expert mathematician will readily solve this problem, and put his 
Q. E. D. to the answer. The principle is universal in its applica- 
tion, not only thro the world of matter, but the higher xvorldof mindr 
for the plain reason that the Infinite Wisdom which presides over 
both, never forms contradictory laws. 

What is a negative? "A denying ; a proposition by which some 
thing is deniedJ' Can there be a denial, till there is some thing to 
deny; or except from the mere relative fact that it does deny some 
thing else? Certainly not. Then, most clearly, the negative does 
not consist in the absolute meaning of the -word, or phrase ; and no 
single term, or proposition, taken by itself, is more positive, or Jiega- 
tive, than an other. The whole legal theory of positive and negative 
testimony, is a mistake of the incident, for the essential principle^ and 
leads to much false logic in the courts. 

Was the m'3ii\ present, or absent? He was absent. Is the house 
Jlnished, or nn-Jlnished ? It is un-finished. Do you assert that, as a 
positive fact ? I do affirm^ positively, absolutely, and as a fact within 
my own rer^fl//t kno-wledge, that the house is not finished. Then, 
Sir, I must take the liberty, flatly to contradict you, and deny your 
y^vy positive assertion, by telling you that the house is fiiished since 
you saiv it. 

It would be needless to multiply examples, to show that the ideas 
of positive and negative do not depend on the absolute meaning of 
xvords, nor \he\v grammatical collocation ; but on the nature of asser- 
tions, in relation to each other. 

JSTanght, is a moderi^ alteiation of nought. The naughty boy is so> 
because he is contemplated as vjorthless, or good for nothing. 

JSTot, is very often a secondary adjective ; as, J\'*ot many, not goodf 
not fnuch, JVot able, iin-able, partially able, fuh'y able. 



ADVERBS. 165 

Ofi, often : at oft^ or o/Vew, times : adjectives. " He is often there.** 
At often, OT frequent times. 

Or, contraction for other, an adjective, meanings the same thing as 
other, and with a following noun understood. The adjective other^ 
refers to a noun, expressed, or sufficiently alluded to, in concomi- 
tant words ; and or to the noun -wise, manner, ivay, or other equiva- 
lent word, understood by habitual familiar association. " John {or) 
George will go." John, (in other case) George will go. This is 
either right (or) wrong : in other wise. 

J\ror, is ne or ; not otherwise ; not in other ivay, or manner. 

Other ivise ; in other wise. The word -wise has been before ex- 
plained. It is used as a noun, both in contraction and without : as 
we say, in any -wise; slant wise ; length wise ,• in this rvise. 

J\*ot -withstanding. This word, as used in its compound form, is 
often placed at the end instead of the beginning of the phrase to 
which it belongs. In legal procedings it is correctly used. ** Any 
former law, in any wise, to the contrary not-withstanding" (this 
law): that is, not effectually withstanding, or opposing it. 

Perhaps, per chance, per adventure. These terms are a mixture 
of the Latin per, by, with an English word in each instance. They 
have become established in use, and are easily explained when ana- 
lyzed. 

Once, one time : txvice, two times. 

Since, the past participle seen, and the adjective as; seen as, seen 
that, or the same, {time, period, state, or condition of things.) Ever 
67?2c<? the first of January : ever from 2^ period oi time, so called, so 
seen ; so contemplated : ever from a period seen, viewed, named, or 
contemplated, as the first of January. 

Still, This is the participial adjective stilled. The reason why it 
is said that a person s/«7/ remains, or remains still in a place, is be- 
cause he is quietly placed there : he \s fixed, stationed, and free from 
annoyance or agitation, which causes him to remain. 

Hence, thence; from this place, from 'that place; each '* adverb*' 
containing three constituent words. Thither, whither : that other, 
lifhat other, with the word place understood, after, and to, before, 
each. The word hither is partially modified by imitation of the two 
preceding words. Hitherto, is to hither, or to this place ; for the word 
other does not in propriety belong to it. 

Straight-way : by a straight way, in a direct course, without loss 
of distance, and by easy inference, without loss of time. 

Then, when ,• " We seen no we bi a miror in darcnesse : thanne 



166 ADVERBS. 

forsothe, face to face. Nowe I know of partye : thanne forsothe 
schal know as I am knowen/' — 1 Corin. xiii. Translation 1350. 

Per annum, a year, th' anne ; the year ; any definite or set period 
of time, 7yie?z, that time, at ^Aci^ time: when, what, or at ivhat pe- 
riod^ or time. 

Than, the ane, the one ; than, the one thing : then, the one time. 
This apple is better than an orange. The one orange ; this apple 
is better. 

While, Wheel; time or period in which some thing tvheels its 
round. All the ivhile : thro all the ivhile, or time. Stay here -ivhil 
he goes and returns : during the -ivhile, time, or period. They ivhile 
away the day in idleness : -wheel, or pass it away. 

Till, is to ivhile. In the contractions of words, by quick utterance, 
w and h very naturally fall out, unless their sounds are particularly 
necessary for some purpose of distinction. The letter i does not ap- 
pear to have anciently had the two very different sounds which it 
represents in modern English. 

Whether. Which either, or which alternative, of two or more trans- 
actions, or things. Whether of the twain : which either o^ the twain, 
or two. This expression is not accordant with elegant niodern prac- 
tice. Whether they will hear or forbear: which either oW^q \\wo 
alternatives. They may do either of them : the question is, which 
either they will do. Whether is a defining adjective, referring, al- 
ternatively, to the several propositions, but more directly to the in- 
terposed word thing, event, or alternative, understood. 

The more compounded words of this description, are to be re- 
solved into their elements, as before explained. 

Whatever, is to be analyzed ; what (thing, fact, or event,) (in any) 
age : or, for greater ease and simplicity, it may be considered as one 
plain adjective, whatever thing: whatever fact, or circumstance, 

When-ever ,• (at) what time, (in any) age, 

Where-ever ; (at, in, or to,) what place, (at any) time. 

If the hints suggested in the foregoiiig pages, respecting tlie 
words called adverbs, are well founded, they show that a vast ex- 
tent of error has long prevailed, in some of themostsubhmely inter- 
esting principles of language, of nature, and of thought. They show 
the want of some thing very different from what any nation has yet 
had \x\ this department of learning. They make us feel the evils of 
that technical perplexity which could so pervert the operations of 
reason, and degrade the highest subjects of human contemplation. 

It is the beauty and glory of speech, so connected with the wel- 



ADVERBS. i6T 

lare of man on earth, that its essential rules are not the artificial in- 
vention of iioite contrivers ; but that their foundations are laid in 
those unalterable laws, which operate alike, from atom to atom, and 
from world to world ; few, simple, clear, harmonious, and limitless, 
like the Divine Wisdom vrhicb formed them. The real power of 
man, is the skill to direct the physical energies subject to his con- 
troll : his enjoyment, so far as earthly considerations are concerned, 
is to know himself; to appreciate correctly the true end of his be- 
ing; to improve his social condition; and adapt the means within 
his reach to his own best good. The science of speech, is the science 
of mind ; and the instrument of nearly all which men can know or 
do. There can be no reasonable doubt that, when the principles of 
language shall be ably developed, in their own true nature, that 
event will do more to benefit the human family, than any other, 
except the invention of letters, and the art of printing, which has 
ever been accomplished by human means. 

IRREGULAR AND IMITATIVE SOUNDS, CALLED 
LVTERJECTIO.VS. 

XIany words in language are formed of imitaiive sounds, more or 
less true to nature. One bird is called a cuckoo, and an other a whip' 
psTraill. The dove is said to crrj : formerly represented by the let- 
ters "u--ao, or ti-<?o, to ivuo; and which, as pronounced, was the shorty in- 
distinct, followed by the full, sound of double o. Tliisisa nearer imi- 
iation than the modernized English verb. The emblems alluding to 
this bird, need n«t here be described to Pagans or Christians, who 
read. One animal is said to chatter, an other to c/^J-p : owls hoot ; 
\he goos2 busses ; h^ns chch ; and cU ckens/>e£'/>. 

The reasoniusr being takes these ioundsf and their first mpaning, 
from his inferiors, adopts them in regular language, and branches 
them into extensive forms. 

Man, in common wiih other an'^mals, has also indistinct utterances, 
which fall below the boundaries of regulated speech. Such is that 
ciud'ble breatluiig, which we call & £-> oan, and v. hich writers attempt 
to imitate by the letters O, oh, ah, and ethers. \S c see the letters 
ha, ha ,- or he, he, he, employed to represent laughter. AVe Iiave 
boTc, -tPGiv, too-a ; quack, guuck ; cnw, cw*:: ; and bah; to repre- 
sent the noise of a doj, duck, raven, or sfieep. 

The only rule applicable to these sounds is, the matter of fact, and 



168 SYNTAX. 

common good sense. If they acquire a definite sound and meaniui^ 
as words, so as to be intelligibly employed in construction, then they 
become nounSf adjectives, or verbs, according' to the manner of their 
application. If they do not rise to this description, they are neither 
words, nor parts of speech. Noises the farthest removed from regu- 
lar speech, may convey very important ideas, and a rushing Irain of 
thoughts may be excited by a single sound ; as, for instance, the firing 
of a cannon on an enemies' frontier. It would be difficult for the 
lonely African traveller to express, in a word, or a sentence, the 
ideas called up in his mind by the roaring of a lion. What singlfe 
part of speech is^'to ti/pifi/ the precise thought awakened in a mo- 
ther's breast, when, during the sacking of a city, she hears her 
frightened children scream^ as their murderers approach ? How 
fallacious, then, to say that sounds of this kind are parts of speech, 
because they convey ideas to the mind! When people laughy and 
cry^ and shriek, and groan, by rule, grammar may explain what the ut- 
terances called " //i/<?r;;Vc^/o?is" mean. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SYNTAX. 

All human knowledge may be divided into two kinds. 

1. Distinctive entities, relations, and facts, as presented to the 
Senses, in the natural -world : 

2. Signs acquired to represent the objects of perception, direct 
or inferential. 

Tho all which we know, or can conceive, depends on the 
Jirst class, in this division, the second is far the most extensive in 
practice, as it must exist in the mind of nearly every individual. The 
ugnser[\^\oytdim 80 cialinter course are the best experience of all 
ages, made the common stock of the present: and the share which 
a single person obtains, soon transcends the measure of knowledge 
which the longest life would enable him to acquire by direct obser- 
vation. The following couplet, tho not strictly correct, has much 
of reason in it : 

** Tis to the press and pen we mortals owe 
All we believe, and almost all we know," 



SYNTAX. 169 

U'he signs employed in the social interchange of thought, being 
extremely important, it becomes a matter of vast interest that they 
should be 

1st. True to the objects of perception in nature, from which they 
are derived. 

2d. Befinite and -well understood, in their transmission. 

3d. That the laws of their combination should be few, sitnple, and 
clear. 

First. In deriving ideas from objects of perception, the mental 
image must be true to the original, in the main features, so far ks 
the object is itself definitely presented, provided there is no illu- 
sion of the senses, in making the observation. 

Second. In reference to the second of these considerations, all 
which could be said, amounts in substance to this: So far as any 
sign fails to represent the thing which it is designed to signi= 
fy, it is futile ; and so far as by wrong understanding, or wrong 
apphcation, it represents any thing different from what is intended, 
it is false. 

Third. This latter consideration is the more immediate subject of 
inquiry in what may be offered concerning the principles of lan- 
guage, which come under the head of syntax. 

Persons accustomed to close scientific research, are led to ob= 
serve more and more, that our acquisitions in every department of 
learning, arc facilitated in proportion as the elementary principles 
of that department are few and well understood. The reason may 
be readily perceived. We judge of every thing by comparison. 
To learn what is new, it must be referred to what was known be- 
fore ; and to preserve a consistent judgment, so as to give each sub- 
ject its due estimation, it is requisite to maintain some common 
standard of reference, with a comprehensive and rational plan. If 
the standard is variable, the judgment will be false ; and if the foun- 
dation is unsolid, the superstructure, with all possible repairing, can 
not be firm. The multiplicity of single facts, when arranged in due 
order, according to enlightened views, presents no corresponding 
proportion in the difTiculty of their acquisition, compared with the 
increase of inapplicable divisions and rules. 

The individual components, which make the aggregate of las- 
guage, are almost limitless. The first suggestions of reason, there- 
fore, might lead us to suppose that, in this amazing variety of de- 
tail, it would be impossible for any community to converse, intelli- 

15 



170 ' SYNAAX. 

gibly, with each other, unless they have, in some way, guiding prin- 
ciples of extraordinary excellence in their adaptation ; and that 
these must be infixed with the native logic of the mind, whether 
learning has ever detected and explained them or not. In this in- 
cipient belief we become strengthened, by analogy in those sciences 
which have been considered peculiarly demonstrative, or suscepti- 
ble of obvious proof. Passing other examples, unnecessary to cite, 
all which music can perform, depends on the variations of seven 
notes. In mechanics, how few, and strikingly simple, are the prin- 
ciples which govern such stupendous operations in nature and art ! 
and geometry readily shows that all possible forms are but modifi- 
cations of length, breadth, and thickness. 

In language, we have three classes, or parts of speech. Their 
uses are distinctive, and their divisions clear. The subdivisions also, 
^re remarkably few, and their nature such, as always to harmonize 
with the primary classification. 

Entering the field of language, then, no matter how extensive 
*>r various, the progress is limited only by the boundaries of human 
power; for when the traveller, understanding the plan of his route, 
is able to project his own guiding lines before him, there is hardly 
an excuse for getting bewildered, or greatly wandering from the 
I'ight course. 

Before we procede to the rules of Syntax, it appears requisite to 
examine a question which has hitherto received very little attention, 
if thought of at all. What is a rule ? 

"Rule. Substantive, Government, sway, supreme command; 
an instrument by which lines are drawn : canon, precept by which 
the thoughts or actions are directed; regularity, propriety oif beha- 
viour." — Dr. Johnsok. 

This definition, like numerous others, means too many things to 
mean any thing definite. When all of them are abridged to one, 
and that the reg-Ia^ or rio-ht^ one, we shall have a real definition^ 
;and not before. 

The re^'', reg-hy reg-ula, or vulei is the ^"^ instrument by -which lines 
are drawn ,-" and the reg-se, rec-se, rek-s, rex, rule-many or rid-er, is 
he ivho uses the instfutnent to draio the lines, for his people. All 
supposed difference of meaning is but the extended application of 
this one. The principle always supposes the ruling instrument to be 
'ifraig-htf streg-ht^ 'reg-ht, or rig-ht; with competent po\ver and wis- 



SYNTAX. 171 

dom to employ it. Whatever allowance is to be made, in human 
aifairs, for unavoidable error, the rules which pervade the natural 
world, are all drawn in absolute perfection. 

A rule> then, is not merely a prevailing /aci: ; bat, in the greatest 
extension of the idea, must suppose di-rec-thtg wisdom, producing 
an orderly disposition or arrangement of things, in conformity with 
some reg'Ular plan. 

If, for example, a man should state, as a general rule, that, on a 
thousand acres of wild land, there are more oak trees, than of any 
other kind of timber, this may be fact ; but it is his mistake to call 
it a rule. So, with seeming plausibility, it might be declared a 
general rule, in our national geography, that the Rivers of the UnU 
ted States run to the south ; as, the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, 
Susguehannah, and others: but to this rule, there must be thirty on q 
exceptions ; because we distinguish thirty txvo points of the com- 
pass, and there are rivers running towards each of these points. 

Whatever body of Syntax may be laid down as the supposed 
rules, to explain the structure of speech, will be easy, appropriate, 
and efficacious, as a guide in practice, in proportion as they are con- 
formed to those laws of perception, on which both thoughts and 
words, in all their applications, depend. On the contrary, they 
will be perplexing and mischievous, in the same degree as they are 
artificial and technical, or as they deviate from the consistent sim- 
plicity of nature and truth. 

The unerring plan of nature having established three classes of 
perceptions, and consequently three parts of speech, we know, de- 
monstratively, that all different combinations which can be made 
with them, as distinct parts of speech, must be limited to six. It is 
also undoubtedly true, that (the prime rules of construction, which 
apply to the three general classes, can not be invalidated by subor- 
dinate ones, to explain the minor divisions. On this principle, there- 
fore, as well as the one before alluded to, that which has an excep- 
tion is no rule, 

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES. 

Syntax teaches the proper arrangement of words in a sentence. 

Agreement is the connection of two or more words in the same 
constructive relation. 



t/S SYNTAX. 

RULES OF SYNTAX. 

Rule I. 

The noun Is agent, or object of a verb, or follows a preposition. 

Rule II. 

Two or more nouns, connected by and, are taken as a collective 
plural, in their relation to other words. 

Rule III, 

Pronouns take the same relations in a sentence, as the other 
nouns they reheve, would do in the same place. 

Rule IV. 
Adjectives refer to noufis, expressed or understood. 
Rule V. 

The indicative verb agrees with the person and number of its 
agent. 

Rule VI. 

Each verb has one or more objects, expressed or implied. 

Rule VII. 
Participles in insi' are either nouns or adjectives, according to the 
manner of their use. 

Rule VIII. 

A preposition shows the relation of two or more things to each 
other, and in construction, must have a preceding, and a following 
objective word. 

These eight propositions are placed thus together that they may 
all be seen at one view. It is not pretended that they are all of 
them rules, according to the principles before explained ; but so 
strong and general is the impression that a grammar must contain a 
large body of syntax, that it seemed necessary, so far as could be 
done, witliout sacrifice of truth, to make the greatest possible num- 
ber of something to call rules, »^ 

RECAPITULATION OF THE FOREGOING RULES. 
Rule I. The noun is agent or object of a verb, or follows a preprx, 
dtion, as 

The teacher instructs his pupils in logic. 



SYNTAX. 173 

Examples. 

^^ Henry defeated Richard in the battle of Bostvorth." 

Henrify proper noun, singular number, masculine gender 

agent of the verb defeated. 
defeated, a regular verb, indicative mood, past tense, agreeing 
with its agent, Henry, which is third person, singular. 
Rlchardy proper noun, singular number, masculine gender, ob- 
ject of the verb defeated. 
in, preposition, showing the relation between Richard 

and battle. 
the, defining adjective, referring to battle. 

battle, common noun, singular number, neuter, object after 

the preposition in. 
of, preposition, showing the relation between battle and 

Bosworth. 
Bos-worth, proper noun, singular number, neuter gender, object 
♦ after the preposition of. 

" Hope animates t/s.*' 
" A peaceful mirid is virtue*s reward" 
True politeness has its seat in the heart. 
Charles learns Latin at his school in the city. 
The judge dispenses justice with dignity. 

J\ o/e. This rule applies to nouns in their proper connection in a 
sentence. They are sometimes employed without this connection ; 
in wliich case, they are said to be absolute or 271 dependent. Nouns 
absolute are used in three ways. 

1st. In titles, labels, or notes, where the name, without assertion, 
gives the idea required. 

2d. Style of personal address. In this use of a noun, it merely de- 
signates the person spoken to ; but is otherwise unconnected with 
the sentence. 

3d. In a detached phrase, to explain an attendant state of things ; 
as, " The preinises being admitted, the conclusion is certain." 

JVoiai independent or absolute. 

Examples, 

First, Titles. " Lniiti Diciionary." 

These words placed on the back of a volume, couvey a distinct 
15* 



174 SYNTAX. 

idea, as well as if it was asserted, that the thing so marked, is 
a book distinguished by that title. 

So, if a small piece of paper, with the words '* Madeira wine'' 
written upon it, was fastened to the neck of a bottle, it would 
be readily understood, that the thing so labeled, was a bottle of 
Madeira wine, without a more formal assertion of the fact. 

Second. Style of personal address, 

** Forbear, my souj the hermit cries." 

This personal designation has no connection of agreement or 
government with the sentence. It merely shows to whom the 
speaker is directing his discourse. It is only necessary in pars- 
ing, to say that such word is the noun, or pronoun, independent. 

Third. Detached phrase. 

" The Sim being risen, it will be warm." 

Here the first phrase, does not amount to affirmation, bui sup- 
poses a condition of things, in the fewest words, as standing in 
some kind of connection with the whole assertion contained in 
the other part of the sentence. The noun included in this 
phrase, is not connected with any verb as a word. 
The inhabitants amounting to 60,000, Congress admitted them, 
under the Constitution, as a new state. 

An adjournment took place, the members being too few to form a 
quorum. 

Oranges being plenty, we laid in a good supply. _^, 

Oi^anges, noun absolute, because contained in a detached phrase, 

and not connected with a verb. 
heingy participle from the verb ie, describing the condition of 

oranges. 
plentif, adjective, describing the state or circumstances of 

oranges, at a time indicated by other words. 
vye, pronoun, first person plural, agent of the verb laid, 

(aid, verb, indicative mood, past tense, agreeing with its 

agent we, first person plural. 
»>?, preposition, having an objective word implied, as in the 

shipf store, basket, or whatever they were put in, trf 

into. 



SYNTAX. 175 

adjective one, referring to the noun supply, 
good, adjective, describing* supply. 

^^PP^y* common noun, singular, object of the verb laid ; we 

laid a good supply into our vessel. 

Rule IT. 

Two or more nouns singular, united by and, are taken as a collec- 
tive plural, in relation to other words ; as, Guy and his brother are 
chants. 

The word and, is a past participle, signifying, jWnecf, united, added. 
Eke, aec, and ac, were formerly employed in the same way ; but 
these are no longer retained for this purpose, and the word and is 
left to stand alone in its present use. 

Examples, 

" Simon and Andrew ivere casting their net into the sea ; for ihey 
".^rejishers.*^ 

** Ainli and Ardan, valiant sons of Ulna, ivere at the banquet. They 
pledged their word, upon their arms, ihey never more would give 
me cause of pain." 

Shem, Ham, and Japhet, -were the three sons of Noah. 

Hengist and Hnrsa -were the Saxon leaders ivho established them' 
selves in England. 

JS^jfe 1. When two or more names, for the purpose of clearness, 
or emphasis, are applied to the same thing, they are said to be in 
apposition, and do not form a plural ; as, 

*' My earnest desire, and prayer to God, is, that Israel may be 
saved. 

" Catiline, the leader and contriver of the plot, was there. 

Nouns in apposition, agree with each other, and stand in a com- 
raon relation to other words. They are agents or objects, according 
to the sense in which they are understood with reference to the 
verbal action. 

Examples under Rule II. 

Socrates and Plato ivere wise men. 
Socrates and Plato, wise men^ once existed, ' 



176 SYNTAX. 

Socrates, proper noun, singular, masculine, coupled with Plato, 

by the word and. 
and, participial adjective connecting Socrates, and Plato. 

Plato, proper noun, singular, masculine, and together with 

Socrates, agent of the verb -were, 
-were irregular verb, part of the verb to be, in the indicative 

m'.iod, past tense, agreeing with its two connected 

agen-s, Plato and Socrates, 
-wise, adjective, referring to men. 

men, common noun, plural, in apposition with Socrates and 

Plato, as agent of the verb were, because that the mere 

act of exercising the vital functions, did not make them 

luise men, 

" She walks a queen." 

Queen, is agent of the verb, in apposition with ^Ad?,- because the 
act of walking does not make her a queen, 

" He proved himself 2i Roman citizen.*' 

"Nero reiidered himself 2i detestable tyrant.*^ 

Tyrant, is object of the verb, in apposition with himself, because 

it is the name of what he rendered Jdmself, and not of 
what he was independent of that act. 

^^ T\\Q ^m\<~Q> made himself king .^^ 

"This said, hQ formed thee, Adam, thee, O mail, dust oHhe ground." 
" The people of Nantucket are chiefly enterprising tvhalemen, or 
connected with the whaling business.'' 

Are. The action denoted by this verb, that is, breathing, or in- 
haling air, does not make these people ivhalemen ; if it did, all peo- 
ple who are, or air themselves, would probably be whalemen, for the 
same reason. 

Inference concerning nouns in apposition. 

Any noun, after, as well as before a verb, may be agent, and not 
object, when that noun does not denote the thing which the verbal 
action produces or affects. 



SYNTAX, 177 

Rule III. 

Pronouns take the same relations in a sentence, as the other nouns 
they relieve would do in the same place.* 

Who did this thing? " It was J J* 

WhOi pronoun, standing for the person, or persons, sus- 

pected ; male, or female, and first, second, or third 
person, as the fact may happen to be shown. 

iiid, verb, past tense, and it may take its form, number, and 

person, according to the prevailing idea of the speaker, 

thig, defining adjective, referring to thing. 

thing, common noun, singular, object of the verb did. 

JsTote. Pronouns sometimes stand for characters, personated only 
by description ; as, " tie is wise tvho speaks little." 

Jty meaning the said person or thing ; pronoun in apposi- 

tion with I. 
Tvas, indicative verb, pnst tense, agreeing with it, third per» 

son, singular. 
/, pronoun, first person, singular, in apposition with it. 

Rule IV. 
Adjectivesf refer to nouns expressed or implied ; as, " Many 
are called, but/ew are chosen;** that is, few and msLny persone. 
Examples for practice. 
" A time there was, ere England^ s griefs began. 
When every rood of ground maintained its man." 

* The rules of syntax given for nouns, apply equally to the kind 
called pronouns ; and this is to be understood, throughout the expla- 
nations here offered, without the repetition. 

The right pronoun should, of course, be used to rep»*esent the 
noun for which it stands. This is, in substance, all which can be 
said respecting its agreement with '* a7itecedents or substantives** 

Pronouns meaning the same thing, may be of different gitu'.-imati- 
cal persons, according as they are used under different ideas of ex- 
isting relation. 

I English adjectives never vary their forms for number, genderj 
QV position. 

a good man, good men. 

a^oor/woman, ^oo^ women, 

a gnod book, good books. 



178 



SYNTAX. 



time, 
there, 



defining adjective, referring to time. 
common noun, singular, agent of the verb -was. 
adverbial contraction, including a noun, in apposition 
with time, 

irregular verb, taken as a part of the verb to be ; in- 
dicative mood, past tense, agreeing with its agent time, 
third person, singular number. 

contraction, meaning the da-ibning era, period, or 
time ; and, by present use, the time before. 
defining adjective, from the name England, to ** point 
out'* what griefs, to whom related, or by whom suf- 
fered. 

common noun, plural number, agent of the verb began. 
irregular verb, from begin; begin, began, begun; in- 
dicative mood, past tense ; agreeing with its agent 
griefs, 

contraction, the period -which, referring to the whole 
line following. 

each one of the -whole, taken separately ; a defining ad- 
jective, referring to roo(f, 

common noun, singular number, agent of the verb 
maintai^ied, 

regular verb, indicative mood, past tense, agreeingf 
with its agent rood. 

defining adjective, referring to man, to point out the 
one who, with reference to every particular rood of 
ground, was the occupant of that one, or was, in some 
way, maintained by its productions ; not the man who 
belonged to the rood of ground, as the possession -which is 
o-wned, as legal property. 

" Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me ; for / am deso- 
late and aJlicted.^'-r-Ps. xxv. 

desolate, adjective, referring to the pronoun /, describing by 

condition, circumstance, or situation, 
afflicted, past participle or adjective, describing the state or 

condition of the person represented by the pronoun /. 

" Great Pompey^s shade complains that we are slo-w, and Scipio^s. 
ghost walks unrevenged among us." — Addison^s Caio. 



England's, 



griefs, 
began, 



■ uhen, 
every, 
rood, 
maintained, 

its, 



SYNTAX, 179 

Pcmpey^Sy adjective, formed from the noun Pompey, used to 
point out what shade ; which was tiie shade, or dis- 
embodied spirit, that had once animated Pompey, 

that, adjective, referring to complaint^ or an equivalent word 

- understood : complains that complaint, or makes the 
complaint, we are slow. 

■f/ow, describing" adjective, referring to the pronoun ive, 

Scipio^s, defining adjective, to particularize -what ghost is meant. 

unrevenged, adjective, referring to ghost, 

"And all mine ate thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorified in 
tliee." — John, xvii. 

"In any point tDhich (point) discretion bids you pursue, and 
ivhich (point) has a manifest utility to recommend it, let not diffi- 
culties deter you : rather let them animate your industry, l^ (jhat 
supposition) one method fails, try a second { ;) and a tliird ( ;) 
J3e active^ persevere, and you wi(l certainly conquer." — Sir E, Steele, 

rather, adjective in the comparative degi-ee, from rath, early, 

seasonable, and refers to the whole following part of 
the sentence : let this state of things be, rather, earlier^ 
sooner, than permit the alternative evil. 

I'our, defining adjective, to point out industry; that special 

industry, tvhich ought to actuate you. 

Men must be taught as if you taught them not, 
hv\6L things unknown, proposed as \\\mg^ forgot, 

** The farm is well xvooded and watered,'* 

Implied Adjective. 

The adjective is sometimes omitted in expression, and is indis- 
pensably necessary to be supplied, in order to complete the sense. 

"Caroline would be very happy if she could have her wish." 

Any lady, in her right mind, can have her wish, whenever she 
pleases. A xvish is as easily had, as it is made ; and by just the same 
process ; that is, simply, by wishing it. The only difficult or doubt- 
ful part of the question is, whether the wish is to be gratified. 

Rule V. 

The indicative verb agrees with the person and number of its 



180 SYNTAX. 

agent; as, ^^ Homer -n'cirms us; jyiilton fixes us in astonishmeiU. 
They are both sublime, and excel other poets,'* " You and he go to 
school." " Thou art the man." 

A'o/e 1. A noun of multitude may be deemed plural, in refer- 
ence to its constituent parts, or singular^ as a collective whole : but 
the leading idea, in either case, should be preserved ; as, " The as- 
seinbly -was adjourned by its own vote ;" ** The assembly were divi- 
ded among ihemselvss ; they closed their session last week." 

JVb/e 2. A verb, having two or more agents in apposition, may 
agree with either; as, "I am the man who command you, or who 
commands you." 

Rule VI. 

Every verb has one or more objects, expressed or implied ; as, 
** They try to learn /" that is, " They try their skill to learn their 
lessons.'^ 

" Read, ( ) not to contradict ( ) or confute / ( ) 

nor to believe ( ) and take ( ) for granted ; but to weigh 

{ ) and consider ( )." — Lord Bacon, 

Read (the opinions here offered, or any other ;) not to contradict, 
or confute (them,-) nor to believe (them,) and take {them) for grant- 
ed ; but to weigh and consider Jhem,) 

•* Ask, ( ) and it shall ( ) be ( ) given you ; 

^eek, ( ) and ye shall ( ) find ( ); knock, ( ) 

and It shall ( ) be ( ) opened unto you." — Alatth, vii. 

Ask (what is needful) and it shall be given to you ; seek {salva- 
tion) and ye shall {the necessary consequence) to find {it:) knock 
{the door of mercy) and it shall ( ) be {itself) opened unto you. 

«< They sovV not, ( ) neither do ( ) they reap, ( ) 

nor gather ( ) into barns.' 

" Man wo;??5 ( ) 3wt little here below, 

Nor wants that little lofig," Goldsmith, 

but, imperative verb, bt^ont, leave out, except : the word 

not, or nothing, is miderstood before it. Man wants 
nothing, except 2i\\X\.\^ , he wants "next to nothing i'v 
with a trifiing exception, he wants nothing. 



SYNTAX. 181 

''■::g, contraction for " a long time. '' 

Ji'oie. Imperative and infiTiitive verbs, in English, are invariable 
in form, and fjiture in meaning; as, ^* persevere in goodness;" ** stay 
here ;" *' depart in peace ;*' ^'prepare yourself to meet your friends.' 

" Nise, rise, my soul, and leave the ground; 
Stretch all my thoughts abroad ; 
And rouse up every tuneful sound, 
To praise the eternal God." 

Rise, imperative verb, addressed by the psalmist to his own 

soul ; according to the plain sense, it implies that his 
soul is not yet risen, or not so to a sufficient degree ; 
and, therefore, like all other imperative verbs the ac- 
tion required, cannot be complied with, till after the 
wish is. expressed ; that is, in the future tense. 

.'?j/, defining adjective, referring to soul. 

,;oul, noun absolute, as being the style of direct personal 

address. 

md, contraction, for added, referring' to the following 

phrase, leave the ground. 
rc'f, stretch, and rouse, the same as rise, 

is a contracted word, signifying act, performance ,- and 
on account of this meaning is placed before a verb 
in the infinitive mood, for clearness of understanding, 
to distinguish the word as a verb, from the same word, 
when it is a noun. 

to praise, a verb, in the infinitive mood, which is always conse- 
quent on some existing, or supposed condition of 
things, and always future, either in r,'^lation to the 
present time, or to the state of things supposed. 

Rule VII. 

Participles in irig, are either nouns, or adjectives, according to the 
manner of their use. 

He is engaged in erecting a house. 

He is engaged in the erecting of a house. 

He is engaged in the erection of a house. 

The true principle in this use of the participle erecting, appears to 
>e. that as a noun, it is the name of an act, fact, circumgtance, or 

16 



182 SYNTAX. 

thing. That the ihu:^ so named is the *^ snhstantlve^^ called actiorij 
or actiiis", does not vary the principle ; but is the incident belonging 
io, or the belonging incident in^ the special case. It is shorter, and 
more fashionably elegant, to say, he is engaged in building a house, 
than in the building of a house ; and from habitual fanniliarity it is 
equally well understood. 

It will be remembered that all adjectives are nouns or participles, 
employed to denote the relations of things to each other: and near- 
ly every participle, whether present or past, may be made an adjec- 
tive by use. 

" Less dear the laurel groiving, 

Mive, untouched, and blowing. 

Than tJiat whose braid 

Is plucked to shade 

The brows with vict'ry gloiving,'^ 

Penelope is lovedhy me. 
Pompey tvas conquered by Cesar, 

Penelope is sensible, loving, lovely, and deservedly lovedhy all her 
friends. She is seated by her little sister. 

My oxen and my futlijigs are killed, and all things are now readt/. 

Rule VII f. 

A *^ preposition^* shows the relation of two or more objects to each 
other, and in construction has a preceding, and a following, objective 
7oord ; as. He threw a stone into the xvater. 

The direct effect of the action is to place the stone, which is its 
object, in a new condition of being. The adjective into, describes 
that condition i but the condition so described is one of specific lo- 
cal relation, and the correlative thing must be mentioned, before the 
description is complete. 

It has been supposed that the adjectives called "prepositions" 
govern a following' objective word, when it is expressed. To declare 
a total disbelief of this position is to start a question of vast impor- 
tance in language, and which deserves to be well examined. 

It is proper in the first place, to see what is the philosophic prin- 
ciple on which this doctrine is supposed to be founded. 

Taking the word into, in the example above given, it is evident 
that the phrase, ** into the ivater,'* does describe the condition in 



SYNTAX. 183 

which the action places the stojie. Description is the appropriate 
office of the adjective. The word luater is not here an adjective. 
The stone is not waier^ nor is it a -abater stone. The adjective thCi re- 
fers io -water, and does not describe a the stone, nor a the "condi- 
tion of being"." Therefore the description, manifestly implied by 
the phrase, essentially belongs to the adjective into. 

We can have no rational conception of goveminent, without the 
exercise of some governing poxver or injluence. To place any -word 
or thing, or '* cause it to Z>e," in any " case," in which it was not be- 
fore, or would not otherwise be, is, most clearly, to perform an ac- 
tiojiy and to make use of necessary means, to produce this ejfftct. The 
adjective into, as employed above, or any other word of its class, 
does not express the active exertion of poiver, or influence, to pro- 
duce change, and therefore does not produce change, in a following 
word, or any other object. 

In the third place, we may consider this adjective into, in its con- 
nection with the above sentence, in reference to its matter of fact, 
and as practically contemplated by the common understandings of 
men. The first effect of the action of throwing, falls on the stone, 
as its direct object. The unavoidable nature of this effect is, to place 
the sto«e in a new position. This position, in order to be under- 
stood, must be described. The adjective into, with its correlative 
bearings, expressed or understood, does describe it. The sione ca-i 
not, and does not take a new position, without producing an effect on 
something. else. It does, as a consequential result of the throwing, 
produce an effect on the water, by displacing so much as its own 
bulk occupies, and agitating a greater or less portion of the rest, as 
plainly manifested to the sense. The fluid called water, is, there- 
fore, the second object of the action, and the noun, water, is the inci" 
deiital object of the verb threw. 

In the last instance, we may test the principle of language by the 
substitution of other adjectives for tite "preposition," into. He 
//ire-j::/ the stone, up, down, high, low, far, distant, off, out, nearer, 
abaft, nigh, opposite, atliwart, adjacent ; abaft the chains, near the 
window, adjoining the boat, tppusite the ship, into the water, and 
down ihe fathomless abifss. 

It will be perceived that what is liere offered under the head of 
Syntax, and all which could be said on the subject, is but the repe^ 
tition of principles before explained. The proper understanding of 
these principles is vastly important, not barely as an interesting sub- 



184 SYNTAX. 

ject of science, and taste, but a? practically necessary to the ex- 
pert and correct transmission of thought. If the speaker has a just 
knowledge of each single word, in its essential and collateral mean- 
ing, then the less formal syntax he is perplexed with the better; 
for properly understanding* the sign in its adaptation to the thing 
signified, brings all syntax to the rule of fact and common good 
sente, that any one. in speaking or wrking, is to choose such signs, 
and so to combine them, as to convey the ideas he intends to 
express. 

Th ' the action has a necessary dependence on the acting power 
by wiiich it is penbro^srd, applies to the nature of the verb, as ex- 
plained under that class of words. 

It is equally true, therefore, whether taken as a principle belong- 
ing to that part of speech, or as a rule of syntax, that an indicative 
verb agrees with its agent. This proposition, which really is a rute 
of syntax, has a practical and useful application. In every language 
which has made any considerable advancement, the verb, for the 
sake of proper distinctions, takes different forms as referred to dif- 
ferent persons and numbers. If it has not a distinct form for each, 
this is no contradiction of the rule. The only material point is that 
it shall not have a form inconsistent with the relation in which it is 
placed. So, when we say that every adjective refers to a noun, it is 
true as a rule, tho, in English, it can not have much practical bear- 
ng, as the adjective tiever yaries, on account ot the noun. 



PART II. 
CHAPTER IX. 

CRITICISM, AND PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 



There are few propositions received thro the learned world with 
such unquestioning" submission, as that " custom^ in languagCy^ is the 
monarch, 

" Whose arbitrary stony 
TVords, and the forms of language must obey.^^ 

From the time of Horace^ this assertion is echoed, till a person 
accustomed to philological pursuits becomes tired of its repetitions. 
Open a hundred books of grammar, and rhetoric, this technical 
axiom stands forth, nearly in the same words, and it is in the mouth 
of almost every person who attempts to display his skill in the nine 
parts of speech. The man whose misfortune it is to differ in opin- 
ion, from such a weight of authority, or not to have a clear view of 
what others so generally believe, ought to be very distrustful of his 
own powers. 

Dr. Campbell, a very sensible writer, where false principles did 
not mislead him, says, " Every tongue whatever, is founded in use 
or custom,^' He then re-echoes, as it seemed almost necessary to 
do, the hackneyed quotation from Horace, 

" Quem penes arbitrium est, 
Et jus et norma loquendi.'^ 

We learn abundantly from our grammars, that a prime rule of syn* 
tax may have from ten to fifteen exceptions, and still be a good rule. 
It may be allowed, therefore, without objection to this kind of logic, 
to offer some reflections which appear to stand connected with it. 

1. Custom, or fashion, in language can not exist, till language it- 
self is brought into general, and in some degree, into fashionable 
use. This foundation, then, is laid, after the superstructure is erec- 

16* 



186 CRITICISM AND 

ted; which appears to be ag-ainst the customary rules of architecture, 
according to ** reputable^ national, present, use.'' 

2. As it is allowed, on all hands, that this fashion, or custom, is 
very **Jl actuating,'' and that " its caprice is apt to get the better of 
analog-y," it appears to afford too loose a foundation, for an edifice 
of such vast inDportance. 

3. It is submitted to the consideration of learned men, whether it 
is, strictly speaking", a good figure of rhetoric, to call a thing a foun- 
dation, while it shows such a prevailing disposition to run away. 

In the hands of a good technical expositor, these doubts may per- 
haps be reduced to form as exceptions to an excellent general rule. 

There will probably be a time, when those who teach rhetoric, 
and logic, will agree that the following syllogism is substantially 
just : 

There is no real elegance in language, if it is not correct : 

It is not correct if it has no ^^ foundation*^ in nature, or truth : 
therefore, 

Language /ow72Je J merely in " capricious fashion,'' is not elegant. 

In speaking of the theory of language, as now taught among ail 
civilized nations, it is intended to treat the subject with fairness ; 
. but, at the same time, with freedom, as truth, science, the public 
good, require. Believing it to be absurd and mischievous, it is cer- 
tainly allowable, if possible, to show it to be so. In the remarks 
which riuiy be offered, it will be needless to occupy the reader's at- 
tention with tnfln-ig details, or to dwell on the countless discrepan- 
cies of ever Vinying expositors. The objections are not to the com- 
meninries, but to the text, 

Tlie system has been taught, and apparently believed, for centu- 
ries. No individual, or single coi-nmunity, is answerable for its de- 
fects. The world at large is interested in gettir.g rid of it, if, as a 
system, it is wrong. Mr. Murray is taken as the head, and repre- 
sentative, of what the learned world is now employed in studying, 
under the name of grammar. No compiler, in any country, or lan- 
guage, appears to have been more honest, diligent, or successful, 
thro a long course of years, in coHectiiig and arranging the received 
opinions on this subject. His work has been the text book for two 
nations, during thirty years, and received extravagant praises from a 
large portion of the reviewers in the three kingdoms, as the one, 
*• beyond all comparisoUy superior to any other in the English lan- 
gUHge," M.i\ Murray's grammar is therefore t]ie standard model, as 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 187 

this branchof learning is taught in colleges, and schools; and what 
is said of this, will substantially apply to the teaching in all the lan- 
guages, ancient and modern, as now explained, wherever grammar 
is taught. 

It is not intended here, to call in question what individuals may 
have done ; but the grammars which have received the sanction of 
national, or of the highest scholastic authority, will all be consider- 
ed as belonging together. 

What is this grammar ? " The art of speakings or writing a Ian- 
guage with propriety ,*' 

A doctor is not to suffer for a long time, by the disease which his 
own medicine is recommended to cure. This judicious and indus- 
trious compiler, with the unparalleled encouragement of two most 
enlightened nations, carried his work thro near forty editions, with 
all possible chance to explain it, as he wished it to be. We are to 
presume that this grammar, in such a length of time, taught Mr. 
Murray, as it was intended to teach others, to speak with propriety 5 
and, by necessary consequence, to say what he meant. 

Into how many parts of speech does this grammar divide words ? 
Nine. What is the foundation of this division ? Custom, or fashion. 
Does the fashion of language often change ? Yes. And why not 
the division with it ? 

What is the first of the niiic parts of speech ? Articles, What 
are articles ? " Words prefixed to substantives to point them out 
and show how far their signification extends." A very important 
office in language. Is the class numerous ? It consists of two words 
only. What, can two words point out, limit, determine, settle, and 
define the extent of nouns in all their various applications ? Is there 
much difference in the meaning of the two words ? There is no dif- 
ference in their meaning ; because neither of them means any thing; 
but their manner of meaning is directly opposite to each other. 
How then do they both belong to the same part of speech, in gram- 
Diatical distinction from other words ? They both point out, deter- 
mine^ limit, define, and fix the extent in which the noun is to be un- 
Jerstood. Let me understand you ; are they both defining words ? 
Yes; but one defines definitely, and the other indefinitely : one poirits 
cut, or ascertains, in a certain, and the other in a totally uncertain 
manner ; one limits without /«mzfa^zo7i, and the other with. 



188 CRITICISM AND 

What farther rules are there respecting a and the P 

"A substantive without any article to limit it is generally taken In 
its widest sense ; as, " A candid temper is proper for man ;" that is, 
for all mankind/' 

What did you buy this morning ? Paper and ink. All paper 
kind, do you mean ? No. Then the purchase was not grammatical. 
What would you like for dinner ? £eef and pudding, A beef, or 
the beef? No, neither : but beef. Then you wish them in the 
" ividest extent*- «* Cash paid for hides and lumber.'' *' Man is 
mortal." Quadruped \s mortal. Bird is volatile. Ox is stout. 
Goose is noisy. Book is wrong. " Kid wont go." 

How is the indefinite article used to point out or define a noun, and 
show, in an unlimited mdinnev, how far its limits extend? 

If a yard of satin costs three dollars, what will nine yards cost, at 
the same rate? If nine yards cost twenty-seven dollars, how many 
yards can be had for 1271 eagle, at the same price ? 

The adjective a, or an, means one, and that only. The one thing 
to which it refers, may be identically specific, or it may be any one 
among ten thousand. Whether it refers to a particular thing, or 
not, has nothing to do with the meaning, or character, of this adjec- 
tive ; but depends on some thing else used with it. 

Mr. Locke wrote an Essay on the Human Understanding, which 
is a very able work. This assertion does not lead us to suppose 
that Essay which Locke wrote to be any one among fifty Essays on 
the Human Understanding ; but the very one which he did write. 
The is an article. This can not mean that the is any article, uncer- 
tain what one; but the identical article, which this adjective is. 
JSrOUJ^^S, OR MAMES OF THINGS. 

Why are these words called " siibstantives," in the grammars ? 
Because they are supposed to be the names of substances. What 
kind of substances are denoted by the nouns, vacancy, nonentity, 
emptiness, blank, and space ? 

GENDER. 

Why are things, not male nor fefnale, made masculine or femininey 
by the rules of English grammar ? To give richness and dignity to 
the language. How are they applied? By a figure of speech. 
What is ship, according to this figure ? Feminine. Why so ? Be- 
cause fi^e is particularly <* beautiful,'* "delicate," and " amiable." 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 189 

is there not a little impropriety In this fi,^"are, when it is said of the 
beautiful, delicate, and amiable, ship Thunderer^ Jupiter, or Royal 
George, that, '* She sunk the Admiral's ship ; but she had her rigging 
much shattered :'' or of the steam boat. Chancellor Livingston, that 
" she broke Aer shaft," or " burst her boiler ?" 
NUMBER. 

Does the plural form always denote mere increase of number ? 
So our granunars lead us to suppose. When a merchant advertises 
^^i'ligars, and fresh teas,'' does he mean that he has jive teas, and 
four sugars P I never thought of that before. It is a pretty broad 
principle to think of: he means different kinds o^iea and sugar ; for 
no one sort, whatever the quantity might be, could form a plural 
number. It is mere variety, without any idea of counting. Drugs 
and medicines, paints and dyervoods, hopes and fears, and multitudes 
of other plurals, are of the same kind. 

CASE. 

What is a 7iou7i ? A name. And nominative means naming ? Yed, 
Then the nominative case of a noun, is the naming case of a name. 
Are there any names which are not in a naming case ? 
ADJECTIVES. 

" These apples are not good ; but they are tJie best that I have.*' 
How does it happen that this superlative degree, " the best,'* in- 
stead of increasing the j5o5i7/t;e "good," does not come up to it in 
^^ quality P" 

ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. 
On what principle can one word be used in fTvo parts of speech at 
the same time, and, of course, in one place P How can an other 
word stand for a noim, where the noun is standing for itself, in its 
own place ? " This is his book.'^ What quality of book does the 
word his, by the adjective part of its character, express ? As a pro- 
7ioun, in what case is it ? 

VERBS ; 

Active, transitive, denoting a real operation, passing over and 
producing an effect on an object. 

" Their chairs support them." Two pillars stand side and side. 
They sustain the superincumbent weight, and each one equals the 
other. How do the columns perform these actions ? The captain 
received a very severe roound. The lady has the tooth ake. The 



190 CRITICISM AND 

child has blue eyes^ and brown hair. The man has lost one of his 
horses. How ? He had him stolen, last night. J\i*euter grammars, 
and the -walls of neuter school rooms, contain strange doctHnes, 
PASSIVE VERBS. 
**It seems, by his vociferation, that he is determined io be heared. 
What is a ^* passive verb P" That which shows that the agent suf- 
fers, or receives, the ej^ect of an action, performed by an other. It is 
made by placing the verb io be, before the past participle of an at« 
tlve verb ;^' ae, 

** Penelope is loved by me.'' 

Thunder is heared by me. 

The blow is received by me* 

The blow is given by me. 

Penelope is seated by me. 

The pain is suffered by me. 

His violence is felt by me. 
Does this mean that Penelope receives the effect of the love that / 
exercise, and the thunder suffers the effect of the noise which 1 make? 
If not, what is the meaning ? Does the effect of the loving pass 
over from me to Penelope, and the effect of the hearing pass from me 
to the thunder P The man is determined, at all events, to be heared. 
How does this recipient agent suffer the effect of being heared ? By 
his own boisterous passiveness in making a loud noise. 

What is the matter of fact in this business of hearing ? How is it 
acted ov suffered? Some operation, as ihe firing of a gun, or the 
filing of a saw, puts the air in motion. This agitation of the air ex- 
tends, from particle to particle, till it comes to the hearer ,• and en- 
tering his ears, strike.'* upon the thin membranes, called tympans, or 
drums. This action of ear-ing, or hearivg, then, is really being acted 
upon, by an external cause ; or suffering the effect of an action. It is 
SO; but it is actitig, too : for if the organs ofht^aring were not kept in 
tone, to receive this effect, and did not act in co operation with it, the 
person certainly would not hear. This hearing, then, is active, and 
passive^ both at once. So is every operation of seeing, feeling or 
suffering, taste, and smelL To suffer is an active verb, according to 
the neuter and passive grammar. To feel, to receive, and to bear, are 
also active. How, then, can an other verb, which means the same 
thing, in the same way, be a passive one; or where is the dividing line 
between action and passion, when they so mingle that the same 
action is half one, and half the other ? 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 191 

" Tliose mlglity spirits lie raked up, with their ashes, in their 
urns ; and not a spark of their eternal fires glows in a preseiit bo- 
som." Johnson. Sejanus. 

AVhat is the grammatical difference between lie raked up^ and are 
raked up ? 

Grammars are written to " teach the art of speaking and writing 
correctly." Do these same grammars mean what they say ? What 
is the Terb to lie, called ? Neuter ; because it is said to express no 
action^ but simply a state of being. Does it express any different 
^tate of being, or any less action for a sick person to lie on a bed, 
than to keep bis bed? What are the verbs to sit, and to stand P 
They are said to be neuter. If a soldier, standing in his ranks, has 
a ball shot thro his heart, he instantly fails ; because he loses his 
ttrength. Then, most clearly, he used his strength, before, in order 
:o stand. Can an ordinary man stand on a rope dancer's cord ? If 
not, why ? Was there not a time when the rope dancer, himself, 
could neither do this, nor even stand on the floor ? If so, then he 
liad to learn the art of performing both of these non-actions. if an 
infant, of a month old, should be placed sitting in a chair, and desti- 
tute of a supporter, it would instantly fall, for want of strength to 
support itsef If a lady, sitting in a chair, should faint, or, in other 
words, should lose the strength which she exerted before, she would 
fall. That every exertion of strength, whether much or Uttle, is 
action, is known to children, if they are not falsely taught. Both 
strength and skill are required, to sit, or seat one's self, or to pre- 
serve the sitting posture ; and an elephant, with all his strength, 
would not be able to perform that action, for want of knoiving 

IlO-iV, 

When it is said that the verb to be, "expresses a state ofbeing,'^ 
we can not dispute the assertion : but it is equally clear that the 
verb to love, denotes a condition of loving, and to tell the scholar so 
is precisely as instructive in one case as in the other. The same 
kind of neuter teaching, among such as can be satisfied with it, may 
be carried to any extent. It can easily be said that, if a ms^n plays, 
OT plays a tune, on a violin, that verb clearly implits fiddling, or a 
state of fiddling. It is difficult for any person to teach what he never 
knew, and there is large allowance to be made in such cases. There 
is, however, much comfort in the neuter plan of instruction, on this 
account If, for instance, a neuter teacher, should meet with the 



192 CRITICISM AND 

statement that " a sailor harpoons a whale ;*' tho he might never 
have seen this verb before, and knowing' nothing of its meaiiing^ but 
supposing it to have no meaniiig at all, would naturally infer that it 
did not mean " action^ i\or passion ;'' yet he would feel tolerably 
sure, in his own mind, that, at least, it expressed a state of harpoon- 
ing, or some thing about a condition of that nature, in some way or 
other. This would be pr« cisely the same kind of grammar as that 
which is now given under the name of neuter verbs. When doc- 
tors, in high places, solemnly declare that *' the verb to be expresses 
a condition of being,^ mere learners are in duty bound to admit it, 
and make the best possible use of such a sage lesson. 

To put the matter beyond all dispute, there is a verb in Latin, 
and an other in Greek, meaning, in substance, nearly the same thing, 
or the same nothing, and almost in the same way. 
INTRANSITIVE VERBS. 

"What is an intransitive action ! Thar in which there is a real 
movement, or change, and nothing moved or changed. In the name 
of common sense, did any one ever hear of such an action? No 
where except in neuter, or inoperaive, grammar : but that is a mat- 
ter which very wise men have settled, in a way that common sense 
has nothing to do w^ith. It is proved by an overwhelming throng of 
great scholars, that there are four thousand verbs, in English, ex- 
pressing this kind of " intransitively active*' operation?. It is the fun- 
damental principle of all the grammars and dictionaries. A man 
would deserve a place in a mad house, if he was crazy enough to 
talk about common sense, in opposition to so much authority and 
learning. 

We may think upon this subject, then, if we do not think any 
thing ; and talk, too, if we avoid uttering tvords, or sounds* 

EXAMPLES OF INTRANSITIVE VERBS. 

'^Strike, while the iron is hot." — Old Proverb, 

The person to whom this is addressed, is to take care not to strike 
uxij thing. 

K blacksmith hires a journeyman to blow and strike, 

"I came, I saw, I conquered,*' — Cesar's letter. 

The man has many workmen employed ; some to plow and sow, 
others to chop and split ; some to mow and reap ; one to score and 
hert\) : two to frame and raise. In his factory, he has persons to card^ 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 193 

spin, reel, spool, luarp, and weave; and a clerk to deliver SLud charge, 
to receive and paif. They eat and drinh^ three times a day ; and as 
they worA? hard, andyVe/ tired at night, they sleep and dream com- 
fortably, and rz'se, or get up, with the dawn, to go to their work again. 
In the morning, the children ivash, and dress^ and prepare to go to 
school, to learn to ?'eaf/, ivrite, and cipher. 

The celebrated horse, Corydon, will perform ( ) on Tues- 

day evening. He will /ec/; ( ) over four bars, separately, in 

imitation of an English hunter. He will lie ( ) down, and in- 

stantly rise ( ) at the ivord of command. He will move ( ) 

backwards, and sideways ; rear ( ) and stand ( ) on his 

hind feet ; sit ( ) down, like a Turk, on a cushion. To con- 

clude, ( ) he will leap ( ) in a surprising manner, over 

two horses. 

SELF ACTIONS. 

The verbs, which have been called reflective, denote actions 
that recur upon the actor, or in which tlie person does something 
to himself The great mistake is in supposing that any action is con-' 
fined wholly to the agent, 

■ The thief helped himself io an other man's cloaJc, 

It is very evident here that, if the \.\\\q{ obtained a new garment^ 
an other person lost it, 

** Let loose the murmuring army on their masters, to j^^ll them- 
selves w lib plunder." — Venice Preserved, 

Would not an army let loose, to pay themselves r/ith plunder, most 
probably extend the effects of the action to some other object^ 

He supports himself hy his labor. 

He cut b'lsfnger with a knife. 

He broke his arm by accident. 

He ruins his health by intem2)erance, 

lit; poisoned himsalf \\\{.h arsenic. 

He destroyed his ow!i life by poison. 

He hit his /ie^u/ against a beam. 

He exerts himself with great diligence. 

He uses bx^feet to xualk, and his handsin splitting logs. 

He froze iiis eaj^s in travelling. 

17 



194 CRITICISM AND 

He takes exercise to refresh hhnseJf, 
He refreshes himself whh exercise. 

They have gone to breathe the mountahi air, for the benefit of 
their health. 

They have gone to recreate themselves in the mountain breeze, 

" " The July sun's collected rays, 

Delight the citizen^ who, gasping there, 
Breathes clouds of dusty and calls it country Gn\" 

Co^ivper. 
At the battles of Wagrain, Jlitsterlitz, and IVaterloOf the agents 
were the marshaled hosts on each side. Their actions operated on 
themselves, or on each other. According to the neuter philosophy, 
they were ineffective actions. The armies arranged themselves ; the 
officers commanded, subalterns obeyed; they loaded and fired ; the 
balls^e-^ / they c//ar^^J with bayonets/ ih^y cut, Siud stabbed, 3iud 
slashed; men and horsQS fell ; they -n'eltered in blood. Heads and 
limbs of men and beasts, with fragments of shattered carriages, lay 
in heaps. The earth sustained the bodies, and soaked up the blood 
of thousands who yielded their lives on these ensanguined fields. 

OBJECTS OF VERBS, 

AND 

AGENTS AFTER VERBS. 

'' Thou shalt call his name Jolni:'^ or shalt call him John. 

JWime, This word is here the direct object of the verb call. 

John. This word, tho apparently standing as object, is really 

agent, being connected with a verb, which, in relation 

to it, is merely declarative. 

In the phrase, '* Thou shalt name him ;^' the ^sentence is com- 
plete as a grammatical assertion: but it is necessary to know what 
the name is, which is therefore added as an explanatory word. 

Again, it is not supposed that the name itself is created by the 
act of naming, nor that it is in any w\ay contemplated as the object 
of the action ; but the name is previously made, and is barely to be 
specified in connection with the act of naming the person. 

In the third place, it follows from the preceding remarks, that the 
name should be in an unaltered form, or what is called the nomina- 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 195 

tive case, or it would not be the genuine designation. This is tlie 
g-eneral principle of nouns in apposition, and of the agent after the 
verb. 

" JVe, 7ve, the consuls^ are wanting in our duty." 

M^e are tiie co?isuls who are vvanting in our duty. " Ye are they.^^ 
** / am Ae." "/am the man whom ye seek." " /, Dioir, am the 
man ; what more r" " /, John Doe, yeoman, do hereby declare." . / 
am Joiui Doe, yeoman, and do hereby declare. 

In the above instances, the second and third name of the agent is 
added, to ascertain the personal identity. Whether such explana- 
tory title is placed before, or after the verb, does not alter the gram- 
matical principle ; but is a question of brevity, perspicuity, or har- 
mony, in utterance. 

** lie reigns king.^^ His being a king, is not the effect of his reign- 
ing. King is therefore not the name of the man, in character as the 
object of the action ; but that which belonged to him prior to the ac- 
tion, and independent of its resulting influence. 

Whether the person, or thing, named, stands in the relation of 
agent or object of an action, is a question of fact, to be determined 
in each case, in order to apply any grammatical rule : and not a mat- 
ter of arbitrary form, or depending on any select number of words. 

The arbitrary "rule" given in grammars, that the verb to be, has 
the same case after, as before it, is not true : nor has this, or any 
other verb, any peculiar character in this respect. 

Be an honest man, and not barely profess that character. 

"If a man would seem to be any thing, let him really ^^ what 
( ) he would seem to be.*' 

"Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian,*' 

Almost thou persuadest me to change myself mio a Christian : to 
make a Christian of myself. 

Whatever may be thought of Agrippa's theology, there seems 
very httle reason to mistake the import of his language ; and cer- 
tainly as little in the original as in the translation. 

The examples which follow, will serve as exercises in parsing 
verbs, in reference to the question whether they denote action, and 
whether they have objects. 

'' One star equals an other in glory. 



196 CRITICISM AND 

The roof shelters ihe family ; the floor supports, and the walls 
enclose them. 

Windows exclude the cold, and admit light. 
"And God said, * Light be / and light ivas." 

If it was any action to create the sun and stars, with tlieir atten- 
dant orbs, that action is signified by the short sentence above ; and 
if the sentence denotes action, it is ** expressed'' entirely by the 
verbs be and 7:?^^. 

1^, imperative verb, exist ; spring into being; assume position^ 

order, and acting injluefice, in the system of wheeling worlds. 

was, indicative verb, past tense, denoting that the fiat of Almighty 

power and wisdom, ** Light be,"*' was instantly obeyed. 

And GOD said unto Moses, "I AM that I AM; and thus shalt 

thou say unto the children of Israel : I AM hath sent me unto you»'* 

J^sxod. 
1 AM the first, and I the last, 

Through endless years the same ^ 
I AM is my memorial still. 
And my eternal NAME. 

Dr. Waits ; Hymn 45. 

The compounded word which, through its varying forms, we call 
the verb to be, thou^^h in all its parts both noun and verb, and ex- 
cedingly significant as such, has been so long unexplained, and, by 
the force of tradition and habit, unconsciously used, that to develop 
its forcible, sublime, and true meanhig, is necessarily to exhibit it in 
an unfashionable point of view. 

^^ I am the / am, or that / am.** 

am, verb, expressing self action, the action of sustaining 

one's self in life. Never having any variation in its 
object, it is unnecessary to express it, for the sake of 
perspicuity, or disli'iction. No word, therefore, is re- 
tained in use for this purpose. In parsing, it is only 
necessary to have the principle well understood, with- 
out dwelling upon it in practice. 

the I AM, Vitality itself ; uncreated, boiindless, unending Being ; 
Life-giving Poiver; Self sustaining Existence ; the 
eternal, uncontrolled, unassisted, self acting Principle 
of Life. 



PRACTICAL EXERCISLS. 19^ 

I am^ as here used, is taken tog-ether, as a noan ; and such a noun 
as never had a parallel in expression. It could not be translated, 
from the original, into any language, without greatly lessening its 
force. 

1 am, as a noun, could never be used, but by the Ever-living' 
God ; and, without verbal reasoning upon it, the unavoidable neces- 
sity of the case shows that it can be taken only as a nominative ivord, 
or as the actor : because that, as the Supreme IJeing has no " varia- 
bleness or shadow of turning," and is above all influence of inferior 
actorsy he can not in strictness be contemplated as the object of aniy 
action; for the nature of action is unavoidably to produce change in 
that on which it operates. 

In the use of language, the name of the Deity frequently becomes 
the object of a verb ; but this mode of expression is to be under- 
stood as growing out of the necessity of the case, and the mere rela- 
tive and limited conceptions, which finite beings must have of the 
Sovereign Lord. 

For similar reasons, no past participle can ever apply to the Su- 
preme Being, for what he absolutely is. AVe can say, relatively, of 
the Most High, " He has been our Protector, ever since we had ex- 
istence :" but, in all which pertains to his own Divine Attributes, it 
can not be said that he ever has been any thing which he is not now; 
because the past participle, in every possible form of its use, denotes 
the resulting effect of action or change. 

'* City of A'div-Torlc, ss. The People of the State of New-York, to 
Timothy Trusty, Greeting ; 

We COMMAND YOU that, all and singular business and excuses 
being laid aside, you BE and APPEAR, in your proper person, at 
the next court of common pleas, to be held at the City Hall of the 
city of New-York, on tiie third Monday of January next, at ten 
o'clock in the forenoon of the same day, to testify all and singular, 
what you may know, in a certain cause now depending in the said 
court, then and there to be tried, between John Doe, plaintiff, and 
Richard Roe, defendant, of a plea of trespass on the case ; and this 
• ou are not ti omit, under the penalty of two hundred and fifty 
lollars.^ 

Two hundred and fifty dollars penalty for not performing' the ac- 
fion 



lars." 

rwo hundred and fifty dollars penalty for not performing the 
I of bein^ in court rit the time commanded. 



17 



1^8 CRITICISM AND 

You be and appear^ that is, 3'oa have, and present, yourself. 

On what principle is the military law founded, that if a sentry, la 
time of war, '* shall be found sleeping at his post, and be thereof duly 
conviciedi before a court martial, he shall sufer death.'' 

"You may ( ) also know a well bred man, by his manner of 
sitting ( .) Ashamed and confused, the aukxvard man sits ( ) 
in his chair, bolt upright ; whereas the man of fashion is easy in 
every position. Instead of lolling ( ) or lounging ( ) as he 
^its ( ,) he leans ( ) with elegance, and by varying his atti- 
tudes, shows that he has been used to good company. Let it be one 
part of your stiuii/, then, to learn ( ) to sit ( ) genteelly in ' 
different companies, to loll ( ) gracefully where you are ( ) 
authorized to take that liberty, and to sit ( ) up respectfully, 
where that freedom is not allowable." — Lord Chesterfield's Letters. 

" Go ( ) and sit ( ) down." « Sit farther that way." " Sit 
{ ) up straight." " Come ( ) here, and sit ( ) down 
by me." 

" Sittings the act of resting on a seat." 
** Sessio7iy the act of sitting.'' 

Johnson's Dictionary. 

" How is your little brother to-day ?" ** Very weak yet ; not 
able to sit up long enough to have his bed made." 

He sat ( ) up too long, and the exertion fatigued him very much. 

I had a bad pain in my head ; but I slept it away. 

They slept away the fumes of their wine. 

*' They slept, and eat, and drink'd ; what then ? 
Wl»y eat, and drink'd, and slept, again." 

Priors Contented Couple. 

'•y\^hQn I lay 7ne down to sleep ( ) I recommend myself to his 
iare ; when I awake ( ) I give myself up to his direction. Amidst 
all the evils which threaten me, I will ( ) look { ) to him ibr 
lielp, and question not that ( ) he will ( ) either avert them, 
«r turn them to my advantage. Though I know neither the time 
&or the manner of the death I am to die^ \ am not at all solicitoiiB 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 19!9 

about it; because I am sure that he knows them both, and that 
( ) he will not fail ( ) to comfort and support me under them." 

Addisoiiy Spectator, 

" Then, having" shown his wounds, he*d iit him down, 
And, all the livelong day, discourse of war." 

Tragedy of Douglas, 



"He sat him down by a pillar's base, 
And drew his hand athwart his face." 



" I sat me down and wept." 



Lord Byron. 
Old Song. 



*« Why Gloster, Gloster ! 
Vd speak ( ) with the duke of Cornwall and his wife : 
The king would speak ( ) with Cornwall: 

But -wherefore sits he { ) there ? 
Death on my state ! This act convinces me 
That this retiredness of the duke and her 
Is plain contempt. Give me my servant forth : 
Ck) ( ) tell the duke and 's wife I'd speak ( ) with 'em 
Now, instantly. Bid 'em come ( ) forth and hear me ; 
Or, at their chamber door, I'll beat the drum, 
Till it cry ( ) sleep ( ) to death." 

King Lear, 

'^ sleep ( ) io decth." This must necessarily mean sleep (some 
thing or some person) to death : because it needs not the 
highest kind of philosophy to tell us that there can be no 
death where there is no object to suffer death. To form a con- 
jecture, therefore, according to the probable meaning of the 
writer; what were the sleepers, in this case, more hkely to 
sleep to death, than themselves. 

•' Love not sleep ; lest thou come to poverty." 

Prov. XX. 

**' Tlie hare sleeps ( ) with its eyes open ,- because it is ( ) 
very fearful ; and, when it hears the least noise, it starts ( ) and 
pricks up its long ears. If it hears a dog coming ( ) it runs 



200 CRITICISM AND 

( ) away very swiftly, stretching its legs, and soon leaves hinri 
far behind." 

The sick man slept a good deal^ last night, and it Aar/ an excellent 
effect upon him. 

He slept a good deal of sleep, and the sleep which he slept had a 
good effect on hino. 

" Then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them, sleep on 
now and take your rest." 

" The loorhers of iniquity lie in -wait for my soul, " Fs. lix. 

" We ordered the oarsmen to lie dotvn as close as possible to their 
benches, to avoid being seen by the enemy." Telemachus. 

Lie still, children, and go to sleep, 

" To live ( ) soberly, righteously, and piously, comprehends 

the w^hole of our duty." J^Iurray's Graiiimai\ Parsing Lessons. 

to live, this verb must certainly include the active exercise of the 
qualities and functions which pertain to us as living and ac- 
countable beings, or it could not " comprehend the tvhole of 
our dutyy 

If I could live my life over again, I should try to employ it to better 
advantage. 

AVe have but one life to live on eartl) ; how important tluit we 
should improve it to the best purpose ! 

"The life which 1 now live in the flesh, I live by the fuitli of the 
Son of God." Gal. ii. 20, 

He lives a very comfortable life, by his industry and g'ood con- 
duct. 

*' By these things men live,'' Is a. xxxviii. 16. 

" He died for all, that they which live ( ) should not hence- 

forth live ( ) unto themselves ; but unto him which died ( "i 
for them, and rose ( ) again." 2 Cor. v. 15. 



I>RACTICAL EXERCISES. 201 

**It is pleasant and glorious to die for our country." 

** I choose to die innocent rather than to live guilty.'* 

" Reader, go, tell at Sparta, that we died here in obedience to her 
laws." Inscvipiion at Thermo pylss, 

Hied: Did Leonidas and his companions perform any action on the 
memorable occasion to which this monument alluded, and 
which l)r. Goldsmith intended in the translation to express by 
the verb died ?. 

" Seest thou a man diligent in his business ? he shall stand ( ) 
before kings : he shall not stand ( ) before mean men.'* 

Prov, 

** Who will rise ( ) up for me, against the evil doers ; or who 
will stand ( ) up for me, against the w^orkers of iniquity." 

Ps, xciv. 

At my right hand he stands ( ) prepared 
To keep my soul from all surprise. 
And be my everlasting guard. 

Doct. Watts, 

" JFatch ye ; sta?id ( ) fast in the faith ; quit yourselves like 
men ; de strong," 

" Your walk to school is a long one." " Yes ; but I walk it in si 
short time." 

" For I know the thoughts that I thiiik toward you, saith the Lord; 
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." 

Jer. xix. 11. 

Jt is stated, as a fact, that Mr. Reaumur, the celebrated naturalist, 
contrived by means of experiments in galvanism, to make a grass- 
hopper, not only leap a considerable distance, but actually sing, af* 
ter it was dead. 

'* ^1 verb passive expresses a passiofi or a suffering, or the receiving* 
qf an action, and necessarily implies an object acted upon, and an 



202 CRITICISM AND 

tigent by which U is acted upon ; as, to he loved ; Penelope is, loved 
by me/' J^lurray^s Grammar. 

Penelope is sensible^ lovingy lovely^ and deservedly loved^ in a higli 
degree. She is seated by her little sister. 

" My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready J' 

The members are chiefly assembled, and making arrangements to 
commence their session. 

The mother -tvas delighted^ yesterday, with the prospect of her 
son's return ; but she is anxious today, because her hopes are not 
realized. 

" Confide the secret to no person living ; but be prepared, at one 
o'clock, without fail, to go with me." 

be prepared ; have yonr^eX^ prepared ; put yourself in prepamtion ,• 
perform the actions necessary to Change your present 
unprepared condition, into one of complete readiness 
to go ; and do this without the knowledge of any 
other person. 

" He will, by his turbulence, cause himself to be hearedJ* 

That is, according to the passive verb doctrine, he will suffer the 
action of being beared, while he is wholly passive. 

The candidate is totally unqualified for the station ; because he u 
Ignorant of its duties. 

" Penelope is loved by me :" ** I love Penelope." 

Pompey tvas conquered by Caesar. 

The army tvas encamped by the river Tweed. 

•* The retreat -was favored by the fog." 

The traveller xvas robbed by broad day light. 

The letter is -written, sealed, and lying on the desk, 7'eady for the 
boy. 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 203 

Dialogue. 

A, Poor Scoggin was (howned by the side of India wharf. 
_S. Did the side of India wharf cfrow;i hitn P 
A. O, HO ; how could that be ? 
JB. How was it then ? 

A. Not having strength of mind to bear his misfortunes, /ieyz^m//ef/ 
into the dock, and was droiuned, 

B. What was the verdict of the coroner's juiy? 
A, Suicide, or self-murder, 

JS, O, I thought by your speaking, that be only suffered the action. 
A, To be sure, it is the passive verb ; but we ought to exert our- 
selves to be better acquainted with what it means. 

" Guy Fawkes ivas prepared with a dark lantern, to blow up the 
king and parliament." 

The thief 7^a5 concealed in a potato bin, where he -was found, lying 
stretched by the wall, and -waiting for a chance to pilfer something 
from the house. 

She lives, respected, contented, and happy. 

The fire grows hot, glo-wing, and cheerful. 

He stands convicted, penitent, and confessing. 

The fear of the Lord tendeth to life : he that hath it, shall abide 
satisfied. 

If the influence of wrong teaching and habit was not extensive^ 
very little illustration would be required to show that, in what is 
called the passive verb, the past participle is a mere adjective. 

One of the difficulties which every teacher must encounter, is the 
w^ant of explanation in dictionaries and elsewhere, of the meaning 
of words. Definitions are wanting, particularly in those words 
which are most disguised, because of their great importance and 
consequent frequency of use. Among others, the verb to go is re- 
presented as neuter, from the circumstance that its meaning as a 
word is wrongly given. 

To go signifies, not merely progressive motion j but any kind of 



204 CRITICISM AND 

violent exertion, to produce movement. It is nearly synonymonu 
with the verb to acL It is still used with its governed object ex- 
pressed, tho it is now most fasbioniible to omit the object, 

** With weeping shall they ^>'£> it up.'' Who ^-oeth a warfare at 
his own charge ?" *' You can not go that'' It w»s ancieiitly used 
with conscious understanding that it meant tvovlc^ labor, icily ope- 
ration, Jigo (Latin), is a cognate word. 

The verb go is irregular. This irregularity is made in part by 
its being united with the verb to -wind or -ivend. 

** The lowing herd wind ( ) slowly o'er the lea/' 

** O'er hills and dales they rvend their way." 

'* Shall we -wind along the streams, or walk the smiling mead ?' 

** They tveiit their -waj/Sy one to his farm, an other to his mer 
chandize." 

** Go your -ways ; behold I send you forth as lambs among wolves." 

wind themselves, in a long serpentine string ; or ywwc/ their circuitous 
way o'er the lea. 

rs'end Xhitiv way: this is the same word as the other, with the slight 
change of i to e. 

Such splitting and multiplication of words is very common in 
the progress of language, 

went their way. Went is the past tense of wend, as send makes 
sent; bend^ bent, and others. These are the ideas connected 
with travelling, not only as cattle wind, or string themselves, over 
the lea ; but as the early framers of speech must xvend their 
way, round hills and fens, before cities iire built, or roads made. 
It is the same idea which gives rise to the expressions to take a 
turn; perform a circuit; and make a tour, which is but the French 
word for the same thing. 

go your ways. Go signifies to act; to exert one's self; to exercise 
vigor; to move forwiivd. For a man **to^o his way," me'dws the 
same as io ^vorh, or make his way through a crowd, or through 
any difficulties which oppose liis progress; or to farce himself, or 
' force his passage through the evils which beset him. The join- 
ing of the two verbs go and iveTit, obviates tlie monotony which 
would otherwise take place, by their frequent use. 



PRACTICAL LXERCiSLS. 20d 

The words ^0 and -^end both had their origin and grew into exten- 
sive use, before people rode in coaches on turnpike roads. 

** And panting, labor to the farthest shore, 
The toiling caravan." 

•^And choked with sedges, ivorksiis weedy way." 

^' The man has a hard task, but he wo? A-5 /izVzrseZ/'alortg." 

" The dark way-faring stranger breathless tolls. 
And often faUing, climhs against the blast." 

If the tight shoe pinches, let the wearer say whether this verb hat 
an object or not ; and if the theory of intransitive actions is totally 
destitute of truth, let those who believe in it say how it can be 
made useful in practice. 

It is not always necessary in parsing, to find a precise object for 
the verb ; but it is necessary to know that every verb has one or 
more. A mistake respecting the noun selfy has led to much error. 
This self IS Si personage of far more consequence than the compilers 
seem to imagine. The modern fashion of joining adjectives of per- 
sonal relation to it, in myself, herself, and others, makes no change in 
the meaning. It would be better to write the words separate, as is 
% necessarily done when a descriptive word is used. 

*' Each was to each a dearer self." "His other self.'* '•' Whose 
very self art love." " Spain, the shadow of her former self." ** From 
our own selves our joys must flow." 

The improper compounds of this noun seff, with different adjec- 
ilves, has deceived those who take words, by first appearance, as 
presented to the e^e. 

" I use his self, and iheiv selves, instead of the corrupted Vvords 
himself And themselves, in -j:hich usage! am justified by the authority 
oi' Sldnei^, and of other writers in the reign of Elizabeth. Self seems 
to have been originally a noim, and was, perhaps, a synonymous word 
for soul." — Sir ^'illiain Jones^ Fersian Grammar, 

If such a man as Sir William Jones had examined this particular 
word a little more minutely in the Persian and Arabian languages, 

18 



206 CRITICISM AND 

as he was abundantly capable of doing, be would have left out his 
perhaps in the passage just quoted. 

" Selfis that con^c/ow* thinking things which is sensible or conscious 
o^ pleasure or pain, capable of happiness or misery,^* — Locke's Essay, 

Self, soul, and person, are interchangeably used, at present. 
"London contains 1,200,000 souls,*^ that is, persons. 

Lovers of their own selves, more than lovers of God. ** He woj» 
ships his own dear self." 

The verbs considered most distinctively intransitive, are occasion- 
ally used with their objects expressed. This is almost necessarily 
done, when they take new and striking applications, to things out 
of the range of common place utterance. In a skilful employment 
of such words, much of the beauty of poetry consists. Thompson is 
particularly happy in this use of verbs. 

" Still in harmonious intercourse they lived 
The rural day, vrnd talked the flowing heart. 
And sighed, and looked unutterable things." 

Every writer of genius finds out, in his practice, that ^Hntransitive^* 
verbs have objects, whatever stupid lesson to the contrary he may 
study in his grammar. 

" A sensible wife would soon reason, and smile him into good 
humor." — Addison. 

" Even Sunday shines no sabbath day to me.'' 

tMPERSONAL VERBS. 

These verbs denote such actions as are familiarly understood, in 
connection with some agent and object habitually associated. If va- 
ried from the common use, the connected words must be expressed. 

It rains. What do you speak of? The rain. What of it ? what 
does the rain do ? It pours down. How does it pour down ? It rains 
down. Mliat does it pour down? Rain, Then the rain rains rain* 
To say it rains is sufRciently understood* This latter expression is 
shorter, less monotonous, and more fashionable ; and for all these 
reasons, more elegant. The person who would understand lan- 
guage, otherwise than as a mere smatterer^ should know itfhy it is 
so. 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 20^ 

" With store of ladies whose bright eyes 
Rain j/z/?we/ice, and judge the prize/'— Milton. 

** Then the Lord said unto Moses, behold, / will rain bread fot 
jou, from heaven." — Exod, x. 

^' Then the Lord rained down, upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, 
^ imsio?i€, 3ind Jire, from the Lord, out of heaven." 



MOOD. 

It is not difficult to understand that every action must depend 
«n some agency to perform it: and yet this proposition, simple as it 
is, seems to have been \ery remarkably overlooked by those who 
teach others " to speak and WTite correctly." If any thing but 
" custom" is to be the foundation in dividing moods, the choice ap- 
pears to be natural and plain. 

If we look into language, as founded on principle, we see actions 
represented as being performed by some agent or actor : or, second- 
ly, one intelligent being commands or solicits an other to do or avoid 
some thing : or, thirdly, an action takes place, as consequent on some 
previous state of things taken together, and operating as a collec- 
tive whole, to produce the event which the infinitive mood expresses. 

Mr. Harris, the most learned writer in England, who has attempted 
the science of technicality, gives fourteen moods. 

These moods are the declarative or indicative, the potential, sub- 
junctive, interrogative, requisitive, imperative, precaiive, optative, 
enunciative, 8cc. It is unnecessary to trouble the reader with a long- 
er list. The philosophy on whicli moods are taught, may be seen in 
a short quotation from the very learned author before mentioned, 
whose work abounds with erudite quotations, 2ind appears to possess 
almost every excellence, except tniih, and common sense. It may 
probably surprise some of the compilers of grammar, that the excep- 
tions should be so very fcw. 

"If we do not strictly assert, as of something absolute and cer- 
tain, but as of something //o^sz^Ze only, and in the number of contin- 
gents, this makes that mode, which grammarians call the Potential; 
and which becomes, on such occasions^ the leading mode of the sen- 
"!ice." — Her:»ies, p. 141. 



^08 (.RITICISM AND 

"Yet Sometimes the potential is not the leading mcxle, but oulv 
ikibjoined to the indicative ; as, Thieves rise by night, that they man 
cut men's throats. 

** Here, that they rise, is positively asserted, in the declarative or 
indicative mode ; but as to their cutting mcfi's throats, this is only 
delivered potentialli/y because how truly soever it may be the end of 
theii? rising", it is still but a contingent, that may never perhaps hap- 
pen. This rnodef as often as it is in this maimer subjoined, is called by 
grammarians, not the Potential, but the Sdbjunctive.^' — p. 143. 

Again, page 144, " And thus have we established a variety of 
modes, the I^^eicative or Declarative, to assert what we think 
certain; the Potential, for the purposes of whatever xue think con- 
lingent; the Interrogative, when we are doubtful, to procure us in- 
formation! and the liEauisiTivE, to assist us in the gratification of 
6UP volitions,^' 

The difficulty with this kind of ex-planaiion Is that it requires an 
extraordinary degree of talent to comprehend and apply it. Instead 
of using the rule to discover the fact, it is hung on the fact, after that 
is fully ascertained: but surely no judge, who is master of the whole 
case, can have patience with such special pleading. 

It will be seen that the names, and the attempted divisions, of 
these moods, are made to depend on the supposed meaning of a j^re- 
c^ding verb : potential, because formed, in part, by the word can, 
which conveys an idea of '' being able," in some way or other. The 
dictionaries, too, tell us that ca^i is a sign of the potential mood, which 
is an additional reason why the potential mood should follow the verb 
can. The case seems as plain as what we read in children's books ; 
^^ Harry was brother to Lucy, and Lucy was sister to Harry.'' The 
number of moods, however, is very deficient. The fourtee7i should 
at least be multiplied by ten. The word need comes before an other 
verb, without the preposition to. it is therefore an ^'auxiliary,*' and 
unquestionably a sign of the ind'gent mood; as tlie verb dare is of the 
courageous, and feel of the sensitive, or passive mood ; but to all at- 
tempts to explain moods or comprehend them, by this kind of tech- 
nicality, we may apply a quotation from an other eminent scholar, 

" Strange such a difference there should be, 
'Twixt tvveedle-dum and tweedle-dee.'^ 

The frivolous and absurd verbiage, respecting mood.s which nature 



PRACTICAL EXERCISE.S. 209 

forbids, are troublesome to those who are compelled to task their 
memories with such ridiculous attempts at explanation ; but fortu- 
nately they are soon forgotten. None of them has much effect in 
perverting" the language in its practice, if we except the singularly 
aukward and inconsistent expressions taught under the name of 
the subjunctive mood, 

"If a book does not appear worthy of a complete perusal; if there 
be a probability that the writer will afford but one prize to divers 
blanks, &c." — Doctor Watts, 

The verb be is here in the indicative mood, or the sentence is bad 
English. 

No man has yet attempted to use a subjunctive mood in the Eng- 
lish language, without contradicting both himself and the expounders 
in applying its absurd " rules." 

" A tame serpent was taken by the French when they invested 
Madras, in the late war, and was carried to Pondicherry, in a close 
carriage. But from thence he found his way back again to his old 
quarters, which it seemed he liked better, though Madras be distant 
from Pondic' ,rry, above 100 miles.'* — Lord Monboddo, 

"Taste is certainly not an arbitrary principle, which is subject to 
the fancy of every individual, and which admits no criterion for de- 
termining whether it he true or not.'' — Blair^s Rhetoric. 

'Whatever a criterion can determine^ is not contingency. The 
verb be^ as here used, is either bad English, or it is in the indicative 
mood, agreeing with its agent it. If it is intended to be futxire^ 
then the criterion of time will, at the proper period, determine whe- 
ther it is true or not. 

The following is probably the best statement of tlie subjunctive 
mood which can any where be found. 

** It may be considered as a rule that the changes of termination 
(for the subjunctive mood) are necessary when these two circum- 
stances concur : — 1st. When the subject is of dubious and contingent 
nature ; and, 2d. When the verb has a reference to future time. In 
the following sentences, both these circumstances will be found to 
unite : * If thou injure another, thou wilt hurt thy self. If he conti- 

18« 



UIO CRITICISM AKD 

Hue impenitent, he must suffer.*^ — J\Iurray^s Grammar^ 8vo. vol, i- 
p. 20r. 

It iloes not require a very penetrating logic to see that {.he positive 
asserfioiif in the imlicative mood, "thou ivilt hurt thyself," wholly 
depends, for all the certainty it can have, on the contwgency of the 
other member of the sentence, " //thou hurt an other/* In the se- 
cond sentence, what kind of justice is it to make the certain punisli- 
ment depend on doubtful guilt, or coritivgent repetitafice. 

All which is said to explain the subjunctive mood, harmonizes In 
one incidental property. It is uniformly inconsistent » 

The indicative mood may express the action in an affirmative, 
negative, interrogative, or supposiiive manner: but whether one, or 
the other, makes no difference in the grammatical character of the 
verb, being" wholly a 7;7a/^er o/y'?c^ and depending on associated 
words susceptible of almost endless modification. 

Whether the imperative mood is to be understood as command or 
"^ntreafy, is a question of fact, which grammar can not explain. 

** Give me some bread.'* 

This is the imperative mood : but it necessarily belongs to intelli- 
gent beings, one of whom can utter it, to an other, who can iindtr- 
itand it, else the expression would be nugatory. In practice, the re- 
'utions of these persons to each other are supposed to be known ; and 
o'A the fact of that relation, depends all the difference in the impe- 
rative mood. The expression, addressed in a becoming tone to a 
parent, is entreaty/ to a servant, it is command ; and in ordinary so- 
cial intercourse, polite request, especially by adding, ** if you please," 
or some equivulent phrase. In most instances, it would be impossi- 
ble to determine, by the verbal form of the imperative mood, whe- 
ther it is suppUcaiion or command. Grammar can not teach these 
collateral fac^s. It does not belong to rules of language to tell whe- 
ther the speaker is master or servant / and it answers no better pur- 
pose to occupy scholars with such verbiage, than to perplex them 
with pretended ruleu of speech to explain the diff'erence between a 
tadpole and a frog. 

The imperative mood depends on the volition of a speaker, or first 
person, addressed to a second, to do something, or omit some thing, 
in a different way from what would otherwise be done. 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 211 

It seems an entire mistake to suppose that the imperative mood 
is part of an elliptical phrase in the indicative; for, of all the uses 
of the verb, the imperative is the most natural and simple. Its ut- 
terance in cases of urgency is the most prompt, and the reasons are 
numerous and strong" for believing-, not conjecturing, that it is prior 
to other forms of the verb. 

The injinitive mood appears to have been the subject of remarka- 
ble mistake. According to the long taught theory, it is governed by 
whatever word happens to come before it : but why should this infi» 
iiitive verby which, according to the Sioics and peripatetics^ both, is 
the most dignified part of human utterance, be thus domineered 
over by all parts of speech, and all other forms of the verb ? 

When language is taught according to science and truth, we shall 
not learn, as an arbitrary rule, that one word governs an other, in 
any case. Each 7vord represents an ideat drawn from an object of 
perception. It accords with that perception, under whatever rela- 
tion, appearance, or state it may be presented ; and the words in 
language will, as signs, harmonize with each pther, like the objects 
which they signify. 

To make the principle more clear, suppose a thousand maps were 
drawn by a common scale, to represent diiferent parts of the earth. 
If each map was truly drawn to represent the outline of the country, 
no matter how irregular, then these maps might be put together, 
and would be found exactly to fit each other; but it could not be 
said that one of these maps required an other to come to it, with 
crooked edges, to fit its own outline, or caused it to be farther north 
or south than it would otherwise be : for, as each map has its own 
locality and topography, to which it must be adapted, it wquld still 
oe the same if no other map had ever been drawn. Ideas are ^^ mental 
imagesy' each like the originals; and ivords are their types, following 
the same natural laws. They conform to the antitypes. 

An action must have a cause. In tiie indicative and imperative 
moods, the agent, expressed or implied, is the cause. The infinitive 
verb has no agent. The action which it denotes must liien have 
some other cause. 

They hadajire made in the stove to warm the room. 

The cause of the action which the infinitive mood denotes, is the 
whole tvansactiofi, preparatory Qircumstance, or state oj thiiigs, from 



212 CRITICISM AND 

which a second action takes place, as consequential. The expression is 
often elliptical, and sometimes to a great degree : but the principle 
is the same, in all languages. The infinitive mood is frequently ex- 
pressed without mentioning the preparatory condition on which it 
depends ; because that, for all necessary purposes, it is sufficiently 
understood, 

" To see the sun \s pleasant, ^^ 

It would be idle to tell a person of common intelligence, what is 
necessary to be performed in order to see the sun. That point is 
supposed to be gained, without the necessity to go back and repeat 
the process ; or to recount the steps taken to arrive at it. The in- 
tention is, in the shortest form, to connect the two ideas of pleasant- 
nesSi and of seeiiig the sun. 

It is B. pleasant circumstance to see the sun. We can open our 
eyes, and look up, to see the sun ; and this is a pleasant sight ; the 
thought is a pleasant reflection ; gratitude to Him who bestows this 
blessing, is a pleasant exercise. 



TIME OR TENSE. 

An allusion has already been made to what we understand by the 
word timef iniis philosophic principle. Some notice has also been 
taken of it in its practical application, as interwoven with the laws 
of thought It remains to speak of its modifying influence in the 
structure of speech. 

Time is not confined, in language, to verbs, as has been so mista- 
kenly supposed. It belongs to all sorts of words, as it does to all 
sublunary things. The infant must, before long, cease to be an 
infant, or be a child for the second time ; sons and daughters will 
lose the relations which constitute them such ; young persons may 
be old, and rosy cheeks pale ; the hearts, at present agitated, will 
become quiet; and you and /, who now speak and hear, will sooft 
be they and theiUy of whom a few successors in the scene may, per- 
haps, sometimes converse. 

Time, in its general apphcation to changing things, is to be learn- 
ed and considered, not as a principle of speech, but as a law of na- 
ture, to which words are to be appropriately applied from previous 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 213 

knowledge of facts: but tense is here to be examined as one of the 
modifications of the verb. 

In the systems of grammar, as taught among different nations, the 
number of tenses is varied, commonly from six to fifteen. Harris in- 
geniously exhibits twelve tenses, Mr. Murray has twelve, consisting 
of six primary ones, each subdivided into definite and indefinite. The 
French writers, w-ho have paid great attention to this subject, gene- 
rally make more. Mr. Bauzee, in his very learned work, has txventy 
tenses. Doct. Beattie makes thirty-six, in his English grammar, and 
thinks tliat a less number W'ould produce a defective view of the lan- 
guage, and create " confusion in the grammatical art.^^ The royal 
academy of Spain give an elaborate and methodical explanation of 
seven futnre tenses, in that language. 

As the learning of tenses, according to such a scheme, must be a 
greater undertaking than the building of a house, it becomes a mat- 
ter of serious importance to begin by counting the cost, as far as 
practicable, and then to make some kind of estimate what the acqui- 
sition will probably be worth when it is gained. The whole school 
theory o^ tenses procedes on the attempt to find out whether an action 
took place, at, after, or before, the period of one or more other events. 
The principle, on this plan, is easily settled; and the compilers will 
need to be diligent in counting their tenses. They are equal to the 
number of distinguishable successions from the beginning to the end 
of time, and these multiplied into each other, according to the va- 
rious forms in which they are to be combined. 

The appropriate business of grammarians appears to be to explain 
the tenses of verbs, not "accurately to mark" all "the distinctions of 
time," " in w hich actions or events occur." 

From the bewildering technicality o^ twelve, thirty-six, or ten mil- 
lion, tenses, let us take a hint from a practical man on whom the 
hand of nature stamped the genuine, original character of greatness.** 

**Tlie condition of liuman nature would be lamei^table indeed, if 
nothing less than the greatest learning and talents, which fall to the 
share of so small a number of men, was sufftcient to direct our judg- 
ment and our conduct :^ but Providence has taken better care oi our 
happiness, and given us, in the simpUcity of common sense, a rule 
for our direction by which we shall never be misled." 

Lord Chatham, 

After employing the every day commodity here recommended, to 
find out what the tenses really are, we can better <.x?mine the col- 
lections of opinims laid before us, under the name of grammar, 



214 CRITICISM AND 

Firsts let any person, at all accustomed to re/iect^ ask himself 
whether, in the common affairs of life, he ever thinks o^ time, other- 
wise than as past, present, or future. 

Second, Has any nation, in practice, formed a large number of 
words, to denote ideas which do not exist in the mind ? 

Third, Do we perceive that an actio7i takes place, while it does 
take place, after it is finished, or before it begins ? If it is agreed 
that the action is perceived, only when It is perceivable, that is, when 
it takes place, then the first step is accomplished, and we may con- 
sider as settled, the fact that every radical verb is in the present 
tense* 

If the action has taken place, been perceived, and has ceased, how 
is the idea, without the direct perception, called up, in the mind? 
By memory. How is i\\\s past tense expressed ? By a modified utter- 
ance of the present tense verb, or by some appendage to compound it. 

The early practice was, to double the verb of the present tenser 
either to denote the repetition of action, or to recall the event which 
\SA9> passed. A few hints will afford a sufficient view of this sub- 
ject, for our immediate purpose. The reduplication of verbs, to 
expr^^ss repeated action, is partly on the imitative principle, alluded 
to in speakMig" of the sounds called interjections. The same practice 
is continued, in some modern languag-es, to a great extent, tho its 
present use, in English, is very limited. The heart is said to go 
pit-a pat^ to represent its successive pulsations. So we have tittle' 
tattle, fiddle-faddle, clitter- clatter, and other similar expressions. 
The reduplication is somewhat common in that form of Latin verbs 
called the perfect tense. 

Th(" regular jt)a5^ tense, in English, is made by post-fixing the verb 
do. This vei'b was anciently the letter d, followed by a vcxvel 
sound. Vv^hat that sound was, can not be known; for there is no 
^certan dependence on the letter, as presented to the eye. It ap- 
pears m the forms da, de, do, and others. This was doubled to make 
thG past tense ; 2ir\(\ da da^ or de de, pronounced doubtless broader 
than at present, was tivice do ; repeat the doing ; and, by easy tran- 
sition, didy or done. 

This verb, thus thrown into the past tense, was appended to others: 
and the vine which they plant-ed, and -water-ed, was then plani-dede, 
and ivacer-dede ; or, in the modern form, plant'done, and -water-done; 
such as the done act oi planting and tvaiering had made it. 

If this mode of expression had not already been adopted, and 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 215 

grown into familiar habit, it would innmediatelv take place, without 
any thing new, except an other word of eqiivafent meaning affixed. 
To say that a man salt-dede, salt-ed, or salt-affected^ his meat, is the 
same, in principle, as to assert that he iron-shod^ or -wood-shod^ his 
sled, steel-plated 3^ siihe, ov ivater-rotted his flax. These past tense 
ruerbSf in each case, turn into adjectives^ by a slight change in their 
use ; as an iron shod sleigh, a steel plated diXy tvater rotted hem^t grass 
/e J cattle. 

The append-dede verb, by familiar coustoume, droppe-dede its fyrste 
dy and afterwards the Jinal e, whiche broughte it to its preasante 
forme. 

Within the last hundred years, the ed has ceased to be pro- 
nounced as a separate syllable, unless it follows a sound with which 
the letter d will not coalesce. 

The principles here hinted at are common to all languages. They 
belong to the laws of perception and of thought. 

In speaking of Mewses, it is to be remembered that it is the tenses 
of verbs which is the subject, and not the temporal divisions of all 
possible facts. Each verb is one. No simple indicative proposition 
can cotitam more than one» Every indicative verb is either present^ 
or past; and 2t.n imperative, or infnitive verb, is inevitably y^i^^/^re. 
This is not the place for exemplification m foreign tongues, or it 
might easily be shown how tenses supposed to diifer from this state- 
ment, are made, and what they are made of. The English scholar 
will not depend on any other language, to apply these principles in 



FUTURE TENSE. 

There is no future tense of an indicative mood, in any language, 
A few elementary truths, properly understood, would have saved a 
prodigious labor of learning on this point. 

The indicative mood is so called, because it " indicates,^* *' points 
onty" or " declares," an actio?!, or event. That which indicates, must 
have some index, as the means of ^^ pointing out,^* or " declaring, a 
thingi" and 2i future index, instead of aiding instant knowledge, would 
need a present index, to show that i\\\s future one was going ^o exist. 
It is equally a contradiction, in terms, and in fact, to talk of a fu- 
ture indication. What \s future is not indicative. 

That the action which has not yet taken place, can enter into any 
possible conception of the mind, appears to depend Very simply and 



216 CRITICISM AND 

unirnrmly on principles wh5ch may be understood by a single ex- 
ample. 

The blooming' trees iw7/ yield fruit in its season, 
Tiie trees promise t^> yitld fruit. 
The trees have the nature lo yield fruits 
The trees encourage us to expect fruit. 

The indication^ in these instances, is the appearance of the irees: 
It is no matter whether that indication is called xvill, 7iature, or 
encouraging promise : for in either form of words, the same thing" is 
meant. The future event, imperceptible in itself, and beyond the 
reach of indications^ is inferred from comparing some existing mani^ 
festaiion with past experience. Whatever the index may be in the 
special modification^ or however the verbal utterance may be shaped 
to assert it^ the principle remains unchanged. It is the present indi- 
cation asserted^ and the resulting future action inferred. 

The trees are in blossom. We have seen them so before ; have 
seen the successio?i of events, following that appearance ; and learn- 
ed to understand that, by a natural law, the fruit is likely to sue- 
cede, in due time. The regulated principle^ by which the fruit grows, 
in orderl)' course, from the bud, is considered as some thing inherent 
in the tree ; and this principle, in forms as various as the separate 
components of the universe, pervades all objects. It passes under 
the names of wz7/, volition, choice. Judgment, caprice, nature, quality, 
aptitude, inclination, leaning, disposition, longing, and many other 
similar terms. Probably no idea ov principle, belonging to language 
to settle, is more extensively misunderstood, nor, at the same 
time, more important to be known, than what is called volition, or 
'ivill. However various the degrees, or inodes^ of operation, tvill, or 
Tolition, belongs to all created things; and absolute free -will to none, 
Tlie man nnll go to the wedding, to marry the woman he loves ; he 
'ivills to go out of the house which is burning : be will be sick ; ivills 
to suffer pain ; and will die, in opposition to his will; for the com* 
plcT being, man, " wonderfully made,'' has different -wills, which 
may concur, or stand opposed. The child, born ^'iviihout ideas,'* 
and with a mind *' like a sheet of blank paper," " arbitrarily chooses,^^ 
in what is most necessary for its sustenance, and acts, with a skill 
beyond what reason can teach. The hop vine searches for a sup- 
port, and -ivills to fasten itself by a double turn, where a single one 
is not sufficient. The liveltf, inanimate needle, senselessly cummig^ 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 2i7 

\ciUs to aid commerce and science, by zwJica^m^ the darkened poles, 
to the wise lords of the earth. 

Sparks tend^ or are *^ prone to fly upward," and water iviRs to run 
downward : and if this was the place to dwell on the subject, it 
might be seen, how unnecessary is any distinction, in language, on 
this point, and how futile the attempt to make it. 

It is an advantage that, in the English language, two verbs are not 
artificially compounded, as they are in many other tongues. The 
indicative mood is always distinct. It is the expression of tviUy 
intention, power, skill, aptitude, preparation, or tendency, presently 
manifested, and from which, according to settled rules of judging, a 
consequent action is inferred. 

This view of the words called auxiliaries, in its main features, is 
not new. It has been ably treated of, by several writers, particularly 
by Doct. J. P. Wilson, in his Essay on Grammar, a work which dis- 
plays not only great erudition, but an originality and vigor of 
thought, rarely met with under the degraded name of grammar. 

A slight view of the tenses, as they are explained in the standard 
grammar, will close this subject. 

" Tense being the distinction of time, might seem to admit only 
oi \\\e present, past, Sind future; but to mark it more accurately, it is 
made to coitsist of six variations, viz. The present, the imperfect, the 
perfect, the pluperfect, and the first and second future tenses." 

Murray, 8vo. vol. i. p. 68. 

To mark time with still greater accuracy, however, the author, 
(page 73, j adds six more tenses, to ^omHt out ^^ indefinitely.'^ In 
the elucidation of this subject, the compiler has displayed a *^ saga^ 
city'* which has drawn forth the loudest praises from the strong 
phalanx of British review^ers, and of all whose hterary consciences 
are left with these critics, for the sake of convenience, dignity, or 
safe keeping. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

" Indefinite present tense denotes action without limiting it to a 
given point ; as, virtue promotes happiness," 

Definite, " This form expresses the present time with precision; 
as, "He is meditating,'' '* I am writing, while you are %vaiti?ig," 

It will be seen that these supposed definite tenses are made by 
taking an adjective with the verb, as being part of it. 

19 



218 CRITICISM AND 

In the first place, admitting that it takes half a dozen separate 
words to make one verb,the expression still is not necessarily dtfimte, 
in reference to time, any more than the verb would make it. ** The 
pyramids are standing near Memphis/' "When did they begin io 
5jf«?zJ, and when will they ce^se.?" As long as \\\ey are pi^vamidsj 
XhQj VTiW^X. remain standing, in the proper form to make them so. 
What is the difference in the tense, to say, I am sitting, or 1 am seat- 
ed ; he is sleeping, or he is asleep ; he is sick, or ivell^ making a voy- 
age of discover}', or any thing else ? 

In the next place, if we should attempt to put some thing else 
with verbs, it would be impossible to tell what to select. Hardly 
any two sentences are ahke, in all the collateral facts and circum- 
stances, and there is no end to the perplexity resulting from at- 
tempted distinctions of this kind, where no distinction can be made, 
except that which belongs to the specific fact, in each case, thro the 
endless variety of expressions. To blend all the attendant circum- 
stances, in a phrase, or sentence, with a verb, is to mistake the 
Avhole carriage and harness for a part of the horse ; and to elucidate 
in a way too mysterious for human comprehension. 

** The imperfect tense represents the action either sls past Sindjinish' 
ed, or as remaining unfinished, at a certain time past: as, **1 loved 
her 5" " They ivere travelling post when he met them.'' 

To ordinary observers, it appears rather unaccountable that the 
^* sagacity" which could split time by rule into twelve parts, should 
have left the ^^finished^^ and the " unfinished'" action together, in- 
stead of sphtting again. 

** Yio. perfected his work, delivered it, and took his pay for it." 

In this sentence, what imperfection is there, either in the time,t\\e 
fact, or the form G^ iitteranceP If neither of them is imperfect, then 
why isit called the imperfect tense? Translated into Greek, Latin, or 
other language, it mwsXht in i\\Q perfect tense: then why imper- 
fect in English ? 

If Mr. Murray's grammar has any defects, they probably are not 
the errors of haste or inadvertence. The division of tenses is not 
said to be technical; but it is professedly accordant with fact. Does 
it not vary from fact, in a remarkable degree ? Is grammar the art 
of writing correctly ; or is it any part of correctness for a writer to 
mean what is true, and say what he means ? The absurdities of 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 219 

this system are not Mr. Murray's fault. The crazy edifice, from its 
tottering" foundation in " cu%tom^^^ is so wretchedly constructed, that 
ten thousand mendings could not make it appear otherwise than 
bad. 

"The perfect tense refers to what is/jas/," and " conveys an alia- 
sion to the present time ; as, I have finished my letter." 

The definition of this tense has very carefully stated the terms in 
which it is conveyed ; or, it has the terms very carefvilly stated ; but 
with all care, it has, and exhibits, but very little evidence o^ perfection. 
It refers to the past, and conveys an allusion to the present. Why 
does a verb, in the perfect, or second degree of past tense only re- 
fer to past time ; and why can it not be cut off from the present ? 
For a very strong* reason ; that is, because the only verb which it 
contains is in the present tense. This principle has been mention- 
ed before, and need not be repeated. 

**The pluperfect ^or more than perfect) tense represents a thing" 
not only as past, but also as prior to some other point of time speci- 
fied in the sentence : as, 

"I had finished my letter before he arrived." 
He arrived before I hadfnished my letter. 

" He had received the news before the messenger arrived." 
The messenger arrived before he had received the news. 

An experiment xuas tried on Mr. Murray's two pluperfect sen- 
tences, and it -ufas easily perceived that after they had been changed, 
with the imperfect tense first in order, they remained just as good 
English as they ivere in their previous state. This imperfect is 
always perfect ; and no part of grammar which is true can be more 
than perfect : so that di pluperfect tense is as useless in practice, as it 
is inconsistent in principle. In the forms c^Wed imperfect 2iV\([ phi' 
perfect tenses, either may stand j^rs/, in the order of arrangement, 
and of time, as the fact, in the special case, happens to be : nor is 
this to be understood of the English alone ; but of other languages 
in general. Enough has been said of the future, whether fr^st, se- 
cond, or tenth. Each tense is perfect in its kind: it is present, j?ast, 
ov future. 

Leaving this technicality of a dozen tenses, we may turn to fact^j 
and practice, as they are exhibited before us. 



220 CRITICISM AND 

Tbo the present tense^ In strictness, is without measure of contin- 
uance, and only the dividing line, between the j&as^ and future, yet 
the action^ and the tense which expresses it, continue to be present, 
from the time of its conwiencement to its termination, whether that 
period is long or short. 

" The earth is round."' 

At whatever time this sentence may be uttered, from the creation 
to the end of the world, the verb is remains eQ\}\2i\\y present, and the 
assertion equally true. Most of the confusion, and false reasoning- 
respecting' the present tense, have come from blending ideas which 
did not belong together, and from the misunderstanding of words. 

Truth is everlasting. 

Mr. Johnson teaches school. 

It lightens. 

The man says ** Yes." 

He sails to-morrow, for Europe, 

is, In the first sentence, from the nature of the assertion, 

denotes an eternal present. At each successive pepiod, 
it is coeval with the ever advancing now. 

teaches, denotes an action begun, and not finished. This action, 
like many others, is not continuous, but intermitted. He 
follows that business as his usual occupation : but the 
assertion would be made, as well on the day when he 
does not, as wlien he does, teach school, till he relin- 
quishes that employment. 

lightens. The single action denoted b}' this verb is very short in 
its continuance ; and the assertion, in the present tense, 
would hardly be made, if the idea did not extend to its 
repetitions. 

says. The man says "Yes," instantaneously, and without repe- 

titions. In the assertion of the fact by an other, the two 
actions are so nearly cotemporaneous, that no purpose of 
utility would be answered in noticing the distinction. 

In a grammar founded on nature and truth, past ife?75e, nxeans Jin 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 221 

action which isfinishedy or so far finished as it is necessarily contem- 
plated in the expression. The following examples, with what has 
already been said, will give a sufficient idea of its principle. 

** Socrates died like a phflosopher." 

Socrates -was instructing the young Athenians. 

Socrates tvas killed at Atheois. 

Socrates is in an eternal world, 

died : past tense, denoting a single terminated action, 

•was : this verb denotes the condition of being, the functioitS of 
which Socrates performed as a living man. 

loas : this verb, in the third sentence above, affirms the state in 
which the mortal part of Socrates, for some time, preserved 
itself i after the act of destroying his life ; but which corpo- 
real personality has since passed away, so that nothing 
earthly now remains to which the identity of Socrates can 
be affixed. The affirmation must therefore be in the 
past tense. 

is : the assertion expressed by this verb, is the unending pre- 

sent tense, in reference to that Socrates whom the poison^ 
ing cup of his misguided countrymen could not destroy. 

He has gone to Washington. 

He is gone to Washington. 

He is going to Washington. 

He is living in Washington. 

He is coming from Washington. 

These five verbs affirm, alike in the present tense, the condition 
or situation of the person denoted by the pronoun he. He has, re- 
tainSf exists, or sustains himself in the condition in which the finish- 
ed act of going, or the unfinished act of going, living, or coming, has 
placed him. 

In what has been called the ^^ perfect tense,'* after understanding 
that have is the only verb, and the pai^ticipk used with it an ndjec- 

19* 



222 CRITICISM AN© 

tive ; that this verb is pHncipcd., and not auxiliary,' with an object ini' 
plied, if not expressed ; no farther explanation will be required, to 
make the application in all its forms. 

"I have sat half an hour in this chair.'* 

Half an hour ago, I passed through the action or change^ the ter- 
mination of which placed me sittings in this chair. I yet have myself 
seated or sat in the same situation. 

" He has resided four years in this place." 

has. The man still resides here, and expects to spend his days among 
us, so that he only remains in the situation in which he placed 
himself four years ago. 

They have lived six years in France, and since that they have 
lived ten years in Boston, where they now live. 

have ; these two verbs are with propriety, both in the present tense. 
They now hav& ov continue themselves under the circum* 
stances, the benefits, and disadvantages, whatever they may 
be, which a residence in France, and a ten years' residence in 
Boston, since., has produced upon thetn. No subsequent change 
is taken into the contemplation. We can not say of a man 
-vho is deadf he has lived four years in France ; because the 
proposition affirmed of him as a living man, will not apply in 
the present tense, after he has passed into a different state of 
being, 

We may say, Cesar tvas killed ISOO^years ago; but not with 
propriety, Cesar has been hilled 1800 years ; for, excepting an 
Egyptian mummy, nothing which could be killed 1800 years 
ixgo, -can now be spoken of by the verb has, in the present 
tense. These ideas will readily explain the long standing 
.^Taramatical paradox, that an English verb, in this mistaken 
"-' perfect tense,^* unavoidably ** conveys an allusion to the pre- 
sent time.'' 

The im^gin^ry plupe? feet depends on the same principle. 

The binder liad bound my book, and the blacksmith had shod my 
horse, when or before I sent for them. 

These expressions are alike the simple past tense. The black- 



PPvACTICAL EXERCISES. 225 

smith then had my horse shod ; he ivas as the act of shoing had made 
him ; aad ail additional circumstances respecting time, are only to 
arrive more nearly to the period -vihen^ as it relates to concomitant 
events. , 

A few examples will enable teachers to explain the future with 
consciousness of truth, and vvith profit to their scholars. 

He is to finish, can finish, ivishes to finish, shall finish, may finish, 
has to finish, will finish, must finish, and ought to finish his Greek 
grammar next month. 

In each of these examples, the first verb, in italic^ is in the indica- 
tive mood, present tense; and the second, in Roman letters, is injini- 
tivei and consequently /wmre,- because, it is a law of language as 
well as of nature, that one action can not happen both after an other, 
and at precisely the same time with it. When, therefore, we say. 
He -wishes noxv to embark next year for South America, it seems hard- 
ly correct to teach pupils that these verbs express two actions, both 
in the present tenser at the same time. 

The second future tense will not require much explanation. 

"The two houses xvill have finished their business when the hiTig- 
comes to prorogue them," — JMur ray's Gram, 2d Fut, Tense. 

The above sentence means, " The two houses -will have their bust' 
ness finished before the king will cotne to prorogue them. Before the 
time at which the king wills to come.*' 

Did the idea occur to the distinguished gentleman quoted above, 
that his ^^ future beyond a future'^ happens to denote an action />mr 
to that expressed by the verb comes, in the present tenss P 

The phraseology called " the second future tense," is a modern 
grammatical invention ; artificial, inelegant, and very fittle used. 
*' I shall or -will have loved," and a large portion of the other exam- 
ples of this kind given, it is believed are no where seen or beared, 
except in the perplexing and inapplicable tables of verbal conjuga- 
tions. Let a person of discriminating mind, and well versed in lite- 
rature, scrutinize these tables, which have caused so many tears ia 
schools, and so much puzzling among compilers, in counting tenses 
and moods. He will be surprised to find how little concern they 
have, with any purpose of utility in practice. 



224 CRITICISM AND 

He will have toritten the letter. 

He Tvill have the letter tvrilten. 

It -will makm void the contract. 

It will make the contract void. 

You may get ready the packet. 

You can get the packet ready, or prepared, 

Y©u are to get ready the packet. 

You ought to have the packet prepared. 

Concerning the words called adverbs, and prepositions, enoiigli 
has probably been said. An other part of speech, belonging to the 
customary system of grammar, appears to require some notice, 

CONJUNCTIVES, or CONJUNCTIONS. 

A person who has not given considerable attention to philological 
studies, would be amazed at the extent of learning which, during 
more than 2000 years, has been employed to explain this set of 
words. A slight glance at the subject may give some idea of what 
learning can do, when fostered by national aid, and exerted under 
the guidance of fashionable technicality. The ^^ Herines^^ of Mr. 
Harris, before referred to, has been considered by his fellow-laborers 
as one of the " most splendid efforts of human genius;'* and, as com- 
pared with most of the erudition in this department, it certainly 
does exhibit a very extraordinary degree of talent. This very learn- 
ed and ingenious writer says, (page 238,) ** Now the definition of a 
CoT«juNCTiON is as follows : — ^a part of speech, void of signification 
itself, but so formed as to help signification, by making two or more 
significant sentences to be one significant sentence :'' and, in conti- 
nuation, 

**This therefore being the general idea of Conjunctions, we de- 
duce their species in the following manner." He then, at consider^ 
able length, and supporting himself by a prodigious weight of au- 
thority, procede&to characterize these various ^^ species of conjunc- 
tions." 

This distinguished author then, in due form, gives the synonyms, 
character, and locality, of these various species : but as some of his 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 225 

names differ from those of other eminent g-rammarlans, the follow- 
ing list is offered, as being the one in which many learned men of 
different nations, appear to have agreed. The words are here given 
in their English form. 

Conjunctive, adjunctive, disjunctive, subdisjunctive. copulative, 
negative copulative, continuative, subcontinuative, positive, suppo- 
sitive, causal, collective, effective, approbative, discretive, ablative, 
presumptive, abnegative, completive, augmentative, alternative, 
hypothetical, extensive, periodical, motival, conclusive, explicative, 
transitive, interrogative, comparative, diminutive, preventive, ade- 
quate preventive, adversative, conditional, suspensive, illative, 
conducive, declarative, &c. &c. &.o. 

It is difficult to conceive, without the aid of great learning, how 
a word which has no meaning, should be of such extensive use ; or 
how it can exercise such vast and various influence on other terms. 
If no meaning at all, then why such manner of meaning ; and such 
difference of signification^ between one conjunctive word and an 
other ? Has any person sufficient skill in Arithmetic to find such a 
difference between two noughts ? 

Probably one reason why an oracular image uttered responses^ 
was because the heathen j&r2Vs^ was in it ; but no man who honestly 
believes his lessons in grammar, would be likely to suspect that a 
most important noun or verb could lie hid, m the shell of a conjiinc^ 
tion. Home Tooke, with a master hand, has settled this question^ 
and left no room for argument upon it. 

Our model grammar informs us that the ''conjunctions are princi- 
pally divided into two sorts ; the copulative, and the disjunciive.^' 
The list is furnished, consisting of twenty-i^vo words. 

According to the account of these conjunctives, they perform 
offices nearly as multifarious, in proportion to their number, as 
adverbs. 

1. They ^*om other words, both m a joining, and in fx disjoining 
way. 

2. They govern a conjunctive, or subjunctive, mood. 

3. They bring two sentences into one. 

4. They unite singular nouns, and form a plural, by the aid of a 
long rule of syntax. 



226 CRITICISM AND 

5. By the operation of an other niley they " connect like moods 
and tenses of verbs.*^ 

Besides these main considerations which have been so often and 
so variously elucidated, some queries of a minor kind yet remain to 
be ansv;ered. 

1. When two junctive words^ dis and coiif meet in the sam.e broken 
place, how is the business of joining* and disjoining to be regulated 
between them ? 

2. When three conjunctives come together, as some times hap- 
pens, what is the middle one to do ? 

Of the two '^ principaP' divisions^ the dis-junctive conjunctives 
form the majority. They are twelve in number, 6?/^, or, nor, as^ 
than, lest, -hough, unless, either, neither, yet, not-tvithstanding. 

The coU'J 11 native con-junctives are, and, if, that, both, then, since, 
for, because, therefore, wherefore. 

** The same word is occasionally used both as a conjunction, and as 
an adverb; and some times as a preposition.^^ — Murray, &;c. 

According to this theory, it must be very difficult, in a word with- 
out meaning, to distinguish the double, or perhaps triple, character 
under which it may offer. One or other of these cases will very 
often occur: but if either, or even thoiigh both should happen, the 
teacher, to prevent embarrassment, or loss of time, may call them 
either adverbs, conjunctions, ov prepositions, and pass on. There is 
no need of understanding these words, in order to explain them to 
others. In two respects the instructer is always free from the dan- 
ger of appearing ignorant or aukward. 

1. If an inquisitive learner should be inclined to ask puzzling 
questions, he never will know where to begin. 

2. Let the teacher give what answer he pleases, no human being- 
can say whether it is right or wrong. 

The whole college theory of grammar is a huge, complex or- 
gan, of which any one may turn the crank, or blow the bellows, 
without knowing the machinery within. Whatever discordant notes 
may come forth, or however often it needs repairing, the highest 
authority has declared that the organ is right. It is this beneficial 



PRxVCTICAL EXERCISES. 227 

circumstance that, under the school system of teaching " the art of 
writing correctly," renders many persons the happy instruments, 

"Who sharpen others, as the hone 
Gives edge to razors, tho itselr has none."* 

A man who could free hnnself from the thraldom, and survey the 
scene as a mere spectator, might be amused at the extravagant ab= 
surdities, propagated under the sanction of the highest autborit}'': 
but the exhibition assumes a Tery serious aspect, when it is consi= 
dered that the bes!. period of life is spent over such grammatical 
dream books, and that millions are left to the miserable choice be- 
tween no explanation in language, and such explanations as these. 

After seeing the philosophy of conjunctions y we may devote a few 
moments to their practical application. 

1. Their joining of other words, in a joining, and in a disjoining 
way. 

Mr. Murray's explanation on this point, is too long and too blind, 
to quote. The idea intended is that one set of conjunctives connect 
both the words and the sense, and the other, while they connect the 
terms, express opposition in the sense. Example of the opposition. 

" They came with her, but they went without her." 

They came with her, and they went without her, is just as good 
English, and these conjunctive and disjunctive conjunctives may be 
substituted for each other, if the fact should require, in a great por- 
tion of the cases in which they are used. As a principle of lan- 
guage there is not a particle of correctness in all which is said 
about these two kinds of words, in any point of view under which 
they can be contemplated. 

" Me he restored to my office, and him he hanged." 

Chief Butler to Pharaoh, 

John is good, anJ Peter is very bad. 
John is good, but Peter is equally so. 

* " FuMgar vice cotis, 
Acutum redd ere qu.t; valet ferrum, 
Exsors ipsa secandi." 

Horace, 



228 CRITICISM ANI3 

That one set of these words must join, and the other disjoin, the 
sense, is no more a rule, than that the last Friday in each month, re- 
gulates the weather for the next month : or, that, if a man first sees 
the new moon over his rig'ht shoulder, he will have good luck till 
the next lunar change. 

Some learned grammarians have apologized for the contradictory 
tevtnsy'dlsjtinctive conjwictive^ as growing out of the necessity of the 
case. They do not seem so literally pre-posUerous, as the rhetorical 

^^post-positive pre -positions.** 

With reference to the influence of conjunctions in governing an 
additional mood, and in connecting like moods and tenses, a few 
words will suffice. 

The attempts to explain and follow an imaginary subjunctive 
mood, lead, probably, to more bad English in modern practice, than 
any ©ther single cause. 

" CoNJUNCTioirs connect the same moods and tenses of verbs; as, 
Jf thou sincerely desire virtue, she will be found by thee." — Mur- 
raifi SyntaXf R. 18. 

** Some conjunctions require the indicative, some the subjunctive 
mood, after them. It is a general rule that when some thing contin- 
gent or doubtful is implied, the subjunctive ought to be used ; as 
* If /were to write, he would not regard it;' ' He will not be par- 
doned unless he repent.' "—R. 19. 

To speak of "something contingenti ov doubtful, implied^''' is rather 
talking backwards ; but it is not the design to criticise Mr, Murray's 
language. He is not happy in his style ; and this consideration ac- 
quires greater force when we advert to the length of time employed 
to re-w^rite and correct. Want of clearness is real^ not implied, doubt. 

Rules 18 and 19, of Mr. Murray's Syntax, stand opposed to each 
other, and neither of them, as a rule, has any foundation in fact, nor 
application in practice. The coincidence of the facts supposed, is 
one of those things which may happen or may not ; but whether the 
next month is rainy or fail', the last Friday has nothing to do with it. 

The conjunction if according to the theory, connects two propo- 
sitions, and of course two verbs. The conjunction governs one in 
the subjunctive mood. If both are not so governed, then they are 
not in the same mood. I ivill not go, if he do, I shall not believe 



FRAGTICAL EXERCISES. 229 

suck doctrine, though an other Murray say it^ and the reviewers de- 
clare it excellent " beyond* all comparison/* The two member? 
of the sentence, in each case, have a reciprocal and necessary depend- 
ence, and by every just principle of reasoning, are equally positive. 
The doubt or contingency " implied," is the sole ^^ foundations^ of all 
the certainty which can exist in the case. With regard to the eigh- 
teenth rule, that conjunctions connect like moods and tenses, the 
exceptions to it are very numerous. 

1. As a rule, it is wholly untrue. 

2. As a guide to practice, it is mischievously deceptive. 

3. It stands contradicted by the examples given to illustrate it.. 

4. It is opposed to the necessary law of thought. 

"As it tuas in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.^' — E^g- 
Jish church service, 

" Thieves me by m^ht that they may cut men's throats.*' 

"What I Jo, have done, or ma^ hereafter do, has been, and will al- 
ways be, matter of inclination, the gratifying of which always pays 
itself; and I have no more merit in employing my time and money 
in the way I am known to do, than an other Aa^, in other occupa- 
tions.'* — Howard, the philanthropist. 

In the observations which follow Mr. Murray's eighteenth rule, 
there is a half-way exception made, which is, perhaps, not absolute- 
ly worse than the rule itself; but the impropriety is more directly 
apparent. It states in substance that, if the rule does not agree with 
the fact, in a particular instance, "the nominative must be repeat- 
ed." So far as this expression can convey any meaning, it implies, 
that there may be a verb without a " nominative case,'' unless a con^ 
junction requires it to have one. 

Having thus freely examined the model system of grammar^ as ar- 
ranged by Mr. Murray, it is proper to state that there is not the 
slightest intention of disrespect to the man. They who, professing 
to believe the theory, attempt to write it over, virtually impute the 

* " Mr. Lindley Murray, the ingenious author of the best English 
grammar, beyond all comparison, that has yet appeared." — Imperiid 
Review, 

20 



j30 criticism and 

deficiency to him, as an individual. The system is such, from be- 
ginning to end, that ten thousand recompilations can not make it 
otherwise than absurd. Nature will not change its laws to agree with 
such expounders of language, more than the heavenly bodies would 
alter their course, in conformity with the Alexandrian school. Tho 
Mr. Murray possessed no extraordinary powers of mind, and origi- 
nated no doctrines, wrong or right, he possessed one merit of a high 
kind, which is most thankfully accorded to him There is probably 
no author, or compiler, whose numerous publications are more free 
from every thing offensive to delicacy, or more uniformly on the side 
of those great principles of religion andmorals, on which the welfare of 
a community so vitally depends, and, without which, the most bril- 
liant talents are a fleeting meteor, dazzling to destroy. Whatever 
may have been his errors of opinion, they did not reach the heart. 
Throughout a long life, he afforded undoubted evidence of a benevo- 
lent disposition ; and generously exerted the talents, respectable, if 
not splendid, which his Creator had given, to promote what he 
deemed the best good of his fellow beings. 

ERRORS IN PRACTICE. 

Most of what is called false syntax is error in fact, or merely an 
improper selection of a word, rather than a deviation from any set- 
tled rule of language. The chief cause of the error is a dependence 
on arbitrary rules, instead of ascertaining the true meaning of words, 
and the remedy, to be effectual, should remove the cause, by teach- 
ing the knowledge of terms, in their adaptation to the object from 
which they are derived, and which it is their appropriate office to 
tepresent. The types will be easily applied, if the antitypes are 
well understood. Most of the examples of false syntax set down in 
books, are not made up of bad English, but of bad grammar. Some 
hints have already been thrown out on this subject, in what is said of 
the imaginary subjunctive mood. 

Among the errors which really prevail, the most frequent is the 
deviation from the rule that the indicative verb agrees with the 
person and number of its agent. 

Among persons elevated above the lowest ignorance, this devia- 
tion takes place chiefly, either where two, or more, agents, are con- 
nected, to form a plural, with which the verb is to agree ; when the 
sentence is inverted; or when the verb is placed at some distance 
from the agent, with intervening terms, so that the connection is not 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 231 

Iea?ly perceived. The examples which might be given under this 
head is very numerous ; but the principle is in itself so simple, that 
it does not appear necessary to trouble a competent teacher with a 
long list. 

"The cmiditions o^ the sale is cash, or approved notes at 60 days." 
^' What signifies good opinions^ when our practice is bad.^' " There 
is two or three of us who have seen the work." " We may suppose 
there -was more impostors than one." '*If ihoii' -would be healthy, 
live temperately." — rvouldst, *' If he -were to write, I would not re- 
gard it." — was, " I knew that yonxvas there." — xvere. " You was 
in Boston, I suppose." 

Considerable talent and learning have been shown to prove that 
the pronoun you is singular, and that youtvas is a proper expression. 
If this pronoun was singular, not only " you loast'^ but you art, also, 
would be good English ; but both are incorrect; and for a like rea- 
son. The pronouns you and ive are both plural, though applied by 
courtesy, or arrogating self importance, to a single person. They 
are to be explained according to the fact ; not as altering the princi- 
ples of language. If these constructive forms of politeness were 
now abolished, others would be invented; for there is a natural ten- 
dency to them. Without reference to what is practised among fo- 
reign nations, has no man who ever dealt in English grammar been 
addressed in the language of humble deference, " Will the gentleman 
have any thmg else ?" " Does the gentleman think his boots will do?" 
' " Shall I bring up the doctor's carriage for him ?" instead of the di- 
rect question, " Do you wish any thing of me ?" 

" Full many a gem, of purest ray serene." 

This form of expression anciently prevailed to a considerable ex- 
tent ; but it is hardly used by modern writers. The sentence will be 
grammatical by adding the word times after " many.'' Full many timea 
a gemy''- Stc: as we say, many times three or five gems. How many 
times one in seven ? How 7nany times five in thirty .? 

A wrong adjective is sometimes employed to express the relations 
of things. 

" I do not mean that I think any one to blame for taking due care 
of their health." — Addison.. 



i 



Uo'2 CRITICISM AND 



The word their does not properly show the relation betwee/a 
' any one'' and health. The English language is defective, by lack- 
ing two or three words to represent a single per so?i, whether 7nalc 
or female. Where the sex is uncertain, the masculine singular, ac- 
cording to the best practice, should be preferred. 

The agent of a verb is some times omitted, and the order of sen- 
tences is sometimes changed; as, "To fear no eye, and to suspect 
no tongue is the great prerogative of innocence.'* This sentence is 
inverted. It is the great prerogative of innocence to fear no eye, 
and to suspect no tongue. 

From the omissions, tfiere is, in many instances, a difference of 
opinion in reference to the words to be supplied. Frequently the 
sentence may be completed in different ways without material 
change of the import. *' The arguments advanced were asfollaio," 
or asfolloivs. We may supply the omission by saying, either, were 
such as folloiv, were as they here folloiv, or were as the statement of 
them here follows^ 

In the use of such defining adjectives as refer to a single thing, 
whether absolutely, or conditionally, care should betaken to preserve 
consistency of expression, thro the connected words. One of the 
company is / not 07ie of the company are. John, or James, tvas 
there ; not -were there ; because, tho both are mentioned, it is only 
in reference to the alternity ; and the verb affirtns only of one. Each 
of the brothers 2*5 employed ; not are employed ; because the asser- 
tion is not made of the brothers collectively, but essentially of one / 
tho that one is which ever one may be named, and, by implication^ 
each other one, considered in successive order. 

There is, in some instances, an inelegant and improper repetition of 
the agent, particularly where it is employed to help out the mea- 
sure of a rhyme ; as, 

'* My dog he is trusty and true." 

<* My banks they are furnished with bees,'' 

Concerning nouns of multitude, no rule can be given. It is an 
exercise of judgment to determine whether the reference is to the 
?^roo.p, as an aggregate whole, or to the distinctive individuals whe 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 233 

compose it. According as one or the other of these ideas prevails, 
the verb is to be singular, or plural. 

Pronouns are often improperly used for adjectives ; as " see them 
boys,^* " set back them chairs." This aukwardness is confined to the 
plural form, as we do not hear any one say, " move him chair" 

Foreign terms are some times used for English. They are incon- 
sistent with purity and elegance, and on these accounts should be 
avoided. 

For the French, ten dollars per quarter : a quarter. 

Questions frequently arise respecting the apostrophic 5, in adjec- 
tives of personal relation, more especially when several of these ad- 
jectives refer to the same noun. 

Jane's and Eliza's books. Jane and Eliza's books. 

The first expression refers separately to Jane's books, and to Eli- 
za's books, as different parcels, or those to which Jane and Eliza 
do notjstand related in joint interest. Jane and Eliza's books are 
those with which Jane and Eliza have some joint concern. 

The word had is often improperly used before the adjectives ra- 
ther or better ; I had rather not stay you had better remain here. 
Leave out the adjectives rather and better y the impropriety is then 
seen at once. 

** What method had he best take in a circumstance so critical ?" — 
Harris — Hermes. 

The past tense verb is improperly used for the participial adjec- 
tive. 

He has ivent, I should have tuenty if 1 had ha\>e known it. 

** Two negatives, in English, it is said, destroy each other, and 
amount to an afHrmative." Such a rule is altogether a mistake. A 
wrong use of words, however, frequently takes place, which it is the 
honest intention of tliis rule to rectify. If a person makes the asser- 
tion, "I dont want none,'* the probability is he does not mean what 
he says. The mistake is in the fact, not in the grammar. The per- 
son who knows the import of his words, may, wo^ «?ifrequently, make 
this the most pithy form of expression. 

20^ 



234 CRITICISM ANIi 

^Vo, no ; or no, not yet, does not mean yes» 

Did you ask the man's permission ? JK'^o, I did not ; but my bro- 
ther did. What was his answer ? He did 7iot say 7io. O, then, ac- 
cording" to the grammar, he said " ?/es," or, at least, gave an affirmii' 
live answer. JVo, not that, neither. Then he said iiothing, did he 
iwt ? JVot so, neither. Pray how then ? He told a long story, not 
directly to the point, either way. The cup is empty ; it is full ; 
It is 7iot empty, nor full, 

PUNCTUATION. 

It may probably be expected, as a matter of course, that a work on 
grammar is to contain a set of " rules," to mark the pauses used in 
writing. Any person who duly reflects on the vast variety which 
the forms of expression assume, will readily perceive that if rules 
' ould be supposed applicable to all phrases, it would be difficult to 
say what set of men could reduce them to order, or where they would 
end. In examining the directions given, by a hundred persons,, very 
little of a practical nature can be gathered from them. Like much 
of the exposition in grammars, the amount is, Find out the right of 
the case without the rule, and then fit the rule to it. Hardly any 
two pei'sons can be found who agree in their punctuation. None, 
without concert, could uniformly agree. 

After a full experiment, it would be found that the business of 
punctuation depends far more on judgment, taste, and practical 
skill, than on any set of formal directions which can be given. For 
any instruction which this work can offer, the reader is referred to 
the examples it exhibits, with such allowance as intelligent persons 
will make,. for haste and accident, in a finst edition, on an extensive 
and various subject. 

niRECTIONS FOR THE PLACING OF CAPITAL LETTERS. 

Capital letters were formerly much more used than at present, 
every noun beginning with one. According to the best practice in 
modern writing, it is proper to use tliem, 

1st. At the beginning of every sentence. 

2d. To commence every measured line of poetry^ 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES. 235 

3cl. In every proper noun ; as Englandy JS^ortk Carolina, JDelcU 
ware, the ship Golden Age, 

4th. Adjectives i immediately derived from proper nouns ; as the 
Grecian fleet, the Italian language. 

5th. All names of the living God ; and, as a part of Christian litera- 
ture, including the words allusive to the Savior, Holy Spirit, Divine 
Providence, the Messiah, the Supreme Being, or whatever word 
may be* intended as the appellation of the true God, according to 
any modification of religious creeds. 

6th. The first word of any formal quotation, or example, intended 
to be distinctively set forth. This last use, however, is chiefly an 
exercise of judgment and taste ; for it would be too formal to em- 
ploy the capital, in introducing one or more words, with the regular 
flow of the sentence. 

7th. Principal nouns, or other words, in titles of books, maps, and 
other things; as, Murray's Grammar of the English Language, 

PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. 

The following extract from a proclamation, by King Henry VIII. 
will serve at once for a parsing lesson, and for a sample of the En- 
glish language at that period. 

Henry VHI, by the Grace of God, &c., to all prynters of bookes 
within this oure realme, and to all other oure oflicers, ministers, and 
subjectes, theis oure letters patents, hering, or seing, greting : We 
do you to understand that wherein tymes past it hath been accus- 
tomed that theis bookes of divine service, that is to sey, the masse 
booke, 8cc. both in Latyn, and Engiyshe hare prynted by stran- 
geres in strange countreys, partelye to the great losse and hinder- 
•\nce of oure subjects, who both have the sufncient arte, feate, and 
irsade, of printing and imprinting suche bookes myghte profitably 
and to thuse of the comraonwelthe be set on worke ; and considering 
also the greate expences of so necessary workes as theis arre, and to 
the intente that hereafter we woll have theym perfectly and faith- 
fully done to the honour of Almighty God, and safegardand quyetnes 
of oure subjectes, which dayly doo, and further may incurre no small 
parill and daunger of proclamacions and lawes, we have graunted 
andgeven privelege to oure wel beloved subjectes, &c., the Ubertie 
loprynte the bookes above said, and everie sorte and sortes of theym, 
whiche either att this present daye arre in use, or hereafter shall be 
auctorised within any parte of oure realmeg or domynions, &c. 



236 



I N D :e X. 



A— an, page 23, 87 
action, 26, 32 

manner or laws of, 7^--,. 

secret spriiio.^ .'>f, 27 
adjectivt^s, 4c'. 61, 1. f 

pronoi iis, 189 
nunneral, 67 
above, lj4« 
au verbs, 144 
after, 134 
age^ncv, 30 
ah, 167' 
alwHVs, 154 
am, "10% 123, 196 
and, 23, IJo, 175 
aninialt, 28 
appfiSition. 175 
are, sir, 102, 124, 176 - 
Aristotle, 157 
articles, 187 
as, 155 

auxiliaries, 121,217 
ay> aye, 121 

B 

be, 85, 102, 110, 123, 161, 195 

beast, 60 

because, 161 

Blackstone, 146 

to boot, 117 

to breathe, 58 

blue, 70 

to burn, 103 

burning bush, 80 

but, 116, 180 

button, 117 



Campbell, Dr., 185 
can, 125 

capitals, directions for, 234 
to carry, 34 



case or pn^it'OTr., 54, 189 

case. ■:■ „-■■_ ~ 'o. 62 
cause .SUy I'u 
chip5> 136 

cr.ns:.,i;tives, 224 

'.^'.fiMOA ii] language, 17, 94 
Ci.;j ga^jun of verbs, 110 
criticism, 185 
custom, 94, 185 
to cut, 144 

D 

day, 152 

defective verbs, 116 

dipthong, 41 

do, 127 

dozen, 68 

E 

ed, 214 

effect, 31, 157 

eke, 175 

else, 118 

errors in practice, 230 

even, 161 

ever, 155 

etymology, 40, 43 

examples in parsing', 173 



fall, 132 
to feed, 104 
field, 131 
first, 25, 155 
for, 157, 159 
force, 157 
future tense, 110 



gender, 52, 188 
get, 120 
to go, 203 



INDEX. 



God, 49 
grammar, 40 
green, 70 

H 
band, 123 
have, 111, 127,222 
he, 59 
h eared, 143 
hen, 59 
hence, 165 
her, 59 
here, 156 
home, 155 
how, 153 
hundred, 68 



1,22 

idea, 19, 41 

if, 120 

imperative mood, 181, 210 

impersonal verbs, 206 

imitative sounds, 20, 167 

indeed, 162 

indication, 215 

infant, 45 

infinitive mood, 106, 211 

ing, 109 

instrumentality, 148 

interjection, 167 

intransitive verbs, 192 

introduction, 3 

is, 125 

ish, 65 

it, 58 

K 
knowledge, 168 



language, 39 
laws, nature of, 146 
laws of motion, 74 
to lessen, 118 
lest, 119 
light, 123 
like 66, 71, 131 
to live, 85, 95 
loadstone, 76 
Locke 5, 117, 157 
to love, 112 



M 

ma, 123 

magnet, 76 

man, 60 

management, 153 

manner of action, 80, 146 

many, 63 

mariner's needle, 29, 216 

material objects, 74 

materialism, 38 

m.ay, 126, 162 

minerals 28 

mood, 105, 207 

morning, 152 

motion, 74 

Murray, 145, 186, 229 

must, 128 

N 
naught, 164 
iiay, 162 
near, 132 
negative, 164 
Newton, 37, 77 
night, 152 
no, 162 
noon, 152 
nor, 165 
not, 162 
nothing, 163 
not-withstar.ding, 165 
noun, 46, 48 
now, 162 
number, 50, 108, 189 

O 

O— oh, 167 

objects of perception, 74 

verbs, 96^ 180 
of— off, 135 
oft — often, 165 
one, 23, 61 
once, 165 
or, 165 

orthography, 4^- 
other, 165 
otherwise, 165 
our, 6o 
over, 138 
own, 72 



INDEX. 



participles, 108, 130 
parts of speech, 46, 1S7 
passive verbs, 190, 201 
perception, 19 
perchance, 165 
perhaps, 165 
person, 108 
position, or case, 54 
positives and neg-atives, 163 
power, 30 

prepositions, 47, 131, 182 
prog-ress of language, 235 
pronouns, 21, 46, 56 
prosody, 40 
Punctuation, 234 
Q 
quality, 68, 148 

R 

to rain, 206 

red, 70 

reflected yerbs, 98 

reciprocal verbs, 98 

rule, 170 

to run, 104 



second, 25 

to see, 126 

self actions, 195, 205 

shall, 129 

so shine, 100 

since, 165 

tit, 198 

to sleep, 98, 198 

to smile, 100 

spoken words, 19 

so, 155 

step, 33 

straightway, 165 

substantives, 188 

suppositive assertion, 115 

stand, 91 

step, 33 

still, 165 

structure of sentences, 171 

Subjunctive mood, 208, 228 

syllable, 41 

synopsis, 15 

syntax, 40, 108 



1^ 
tense, 106, 212 
than, 166 
the, 63 
then, 165 
there, 156 
thing, 48 

tho, or though, 120 
thousand, 68 
till, 156 

time, 79, 106,151,212 
Tooke, J. Home, 5, 155, 157 
twilight, 25 
two, 24 



unless, 118 
up, 133 



U 



vegetables, 28 
verb, 26, 46, 73, 189 

impersonal, 206 

intransitive, l'^2 

nenter, 84, 132, 191, 195 

passive, 190, 202 

irregular, 138 

W 

was, 125 

to wend, 204 

were, 125 

whatever, 66 

when, 165 

whenever, 166 

where, 156 

whether, 165 

while, 166 

white, 70 

why, 154 

will 129 

Wilson, Rev. J. P. 21 

wise, 165 

to woo, 167 

worth, 154 

word, 19, 44 

to write, 113 



yes, 120 
yesterday, 152 
Vet, 120' 



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